little upon the earth, yet exceeding wise;" and one proof which he gives of her wisdom is, that "she taketh hold with her hands." There is, indeed, consummate wisdom in the contrivance by which she is enabled to do this, although we may not be able to understand how a brush so contrived as Mr Blackwall describes, can bestow upon her that power to the extent in which she possesses it.

But the instruments with which the spider constructs her web, rather than those which she employs in locomotion, were probably the objects of Solomon's admiration. These I shall not stop to describe, as they would lead us too much into detail. I shall only observe, that they are among the most remarkable parts of her structure, containing, as they do, regularly formed carding and spinning machines, which the animal employs for extracting the matter from the teat-like organs, already described, and drawing or weaving them into threads or webs at her pleasure. Entomologists have felt it an agreeable task to dwell on the peculiarities of this class of beings; and they form a theme no less pleasing to those who delight to trace the Creator in his works.

SIXTH WEEK-SATURDAY.

LEGIONARY AND SANGUINE ANTS.

I HAVE elsewhere noticed the care which the various species of ants take of their young, as well as the art with which some of them construct their habitations; there are numerous other habits and instincts exhibited by different families of this very diversified class, which, however attractive, I cannot stop to examine. I shall

* Spring, pp. 147, 148.

confine myself to one feature in the history of two different species, equally peculiar and interesting.

The Legionary or Amazon ants, are a species not hitherto found in Britain, whose trade is war, and whose subsistence depends on the success with which they invade and enslave ants of another class. The younger Huber has paid great attention to the warlike habits of this remarkable community, and the manner in which they procure labourers to provide for their domestic comforts; and the result of his investigations is so surprising, that were not his account confirmed by other naturalists of undoubted veracity and sound understanding, we might be inclined to believe that his imagination had affected the sobriety of his judgment. In abridging his narrative, I shall select those incidents which seem to be most illustrative of the peculiar instincts of this remarkable insect.

"On the 17th of June, 1804," observes this pleasing writer, and accurate observer, "whilst walking in the environs of Geneva, between four and five in the evening, I observed, close at my feet, traversing the road, a column of legionary ants. They moved with considerable rapidity, and occupied a space of from eight to ten inches in length, by three or four in breadth. They soon approached a nest inhabited by a colony of the negro ant, the dome of which rose above the grass. Some of the negroes were guarding the entrance; but, on the discovery of an approaching army, darted forth on the advancing legion. The alarm instantly spread into the interior, whence their companions rushed forth in multitudes to defend their homes. The legionaries, the bulk of whose army lay only at the distance of two paces, quickened their march, and, when they arrived at the hill, the whole battalion fell furiously upon the negroes, who, after an obstinate, though brief contest, fled to their subterranean galleries. The legionaries now ascended the dome, collected in crowds on the summit, and taking possession of the principal avenues, left some

of their companions to excavate other openings in the exterior walls. They soon effected this, and through the breach the remainder of the army made their entrance; but, in about three or four minutes afterward issued forth again, each carrying forth a pupa or grub, with which booty they retraced their route, in a straggling or irregular march, very different from the close orderly array they had before exhibited."

66

Next day M. Huber witnessed successful attacks by this warlike tribe on two other negro hills in the same vicinity. He went to the encampment of the victors before their return, and was surprised to observe all around a great number of the very negro species which they had been attacking. "I raised up a portion of the building," he goes on to say, and upon still perceiving more, I conjectured that it was one of the encampments which had already been pillaged by the legionaries; but I was set right by the arrival at the entrance, of the very army I had been watching, laden with the trophies of victory. Its return excited no alarm among the negro ants, who, so far from offering opposition to the entrance of the triumphant army, I even observed approaching the warriors to caress them, and present them with food, as is the custom among their own species; whilst the legionaries, in turn, consigned to them their prisoners, to be carried into the interior of the nest.'

"

The curiosity of our naturalist being thus awakened, he directed his attention to the subject, and witnessed various other marauding excursions of a similar kind, and for a similar purpose. He observed, in some in'stances, that the negro army, after repeated defeats, as if conscious of their weakness, barricaded the several entrances to their encampment, with the evident intention of standing a regular siege. The manœuvre, however, never succeeded. Their formidable and persevering enemies soon effected a breach with their mandibles and their feet, and overcame all opposition. "I was wit

* Huber on Ants, p. 254.

ness," says Huber, "every day during summer to these invasions."

Sometimes the legionaries attack the more warlike communities of the mining ant, generally with a similar result, but with more of military art. Their phalanx is more compact in the advance, the onset is more furious, and they return after victory in more regular order.

Another species of ant, called the sanguine ant, on account of the blood-red colour of its head, thorax, and feet, is endowed with the same instinct as those whom Huber has denominated Legionary. These, however, differ in their mode of warfare. They do not send out numerous armies, or attempt to carry their point by a single impetuous onset, but wage the war in small predatory parties. Huber illustrates their mode of attack by a very interesting account of a regular battle between a marauding party of this kind, and a formidable encampment of the negro ants, in which a regular communication was kept up with the main body in the colony, and reinforcements were sent to the depredators, in proportion to the necessity of the case. On the other hand, the assailed, while they gave token of a vigorous resistance, looked to the safety of the young; and, in this respect, exhibited one of the most singular traits of insect prudence. "Even long before success was at all dubious, they brought up the pupæ from their chambers under ground, and heaped them up on the other side of the nest from that where the invading army was making its chief assault, in order that they might be more conveniently carried off should the battle be lost. Their young females also took shelter on the same side." The attack ended with the route of the negroes, who, in their retreat, seized each on a pupa, and conveyed it to a place of safety, while the victors entered their city, and plundered it of the remaining treasure.

One of the most remarkable circumstances respecting these expeditions is, that the only object of attack is to

obtain possession of the young while in the insensible state of pupæ. The plunderers never make prisoners of the old negroes. The consequence is, that the captives become domesticated, without difficulty, in their new habitation, and give forth all their instincts for the benefit of their new owners. 66 Developed in the enemy's encampment, they afterward become household stewards and auxiliaries to the tribe with whom they are associated. Brought up in a strange nation, not only do they live socially with their captors, but bestow the greatest care on their larvæ and pupæ, their males and females, and even evince the same regard for themselves, transporting them from one part of the colony to another, going in search of provisions for them, building their habitation, forming, as occasion requires, new galleries, and fulfilling the duties of sentinels, by guarding the exterior of their common abode, apparently not once suspecting that they live with those very insects which kidnapped them in their helpless and unconscious infancy. While the negro ants are engaged in these laborious employments, their masters rest tranquilly at the bottom of their subterranean city till the hour fixed for their expedition arrives."

It is very remarkable, that the warrior ants seem incapable of either building a habitation for themselves, or even of procuring their food,-offices which are always performed by their slaves, on whom, therefore, they appear to depend, not only for a house and home, but even for existence; and so faithful are those devoted negroes, that they seem cheerfully to perform every office which can contribute to the comfort of their masters. Huber endeavoured to ascertain whether or not the warrior ants could subsist without the aid of their slaves; and, with that view, enclosed thirty of them, and some undeveloped young of both races, in a glass-box with earth and a little honey. They were totally unable to use any exertion for their own comfort or support. Their food remained untouched, and in two days one-half of them