San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-01-04

consequence, however, OF these continu-
ed attacks, has been to render her skin
inscnsible to the most furious assailant.
She lives day and night in the midst Of
her numerous wards, and employs large
numbers Of emissaries to collect fresh
sacks Of them from the great forests in
or near France. 1t is not, of course,
mere disinterested affection which
has suggested to her these strange pre-
ceedings, she keeps only the ants
which are good layers" and sells their
eggs at high profit to the breeders Of
pheasants, the taste of the latter for
that article Of food amounting, it is said,
almost to madness. The police of
Paris have removed the ant-house to a
respectable distance from town, but the
lady bids fair to reap fortune by this
curious venture.
The honey ant of Mexico has recent
ly become an object of much interest to
naturalists and others; and to NJ. Wes-
mail, in the bulletin of the Royal Acade-
my at Brussels, may be said to be
due the first account of this singular
insect. The details of its habits, and OF
the uses of the honey it secrets, may
indeed be classed among the novelties
of the chronological world.
The native name of this honey ant is
busileras, and it lives in underground
nests, which are not dfstinguishable
from without. In their early stage
none Of these insects present any un-
usual distention of the body; but some
individuals begin to show distended
abdomen, which after a time becomes
swollen into a comparatively immense
sphere, produced by the distension Of
the membrance connecting the abdo-
ninal segments, this sphere or sack be-
ing filled with sort of honey. An
other class OF individuals in the COM
munity, raised from the same brood Of
eggs, manifest no tendency of this sort.
When the sacks of these honey-pro-
ducers are full they are something like
transparent bubble of yellowish
color. They are unable, in consequence
of their great burden, to leave their
nests, and are necessarily almost inact-
i've, remaining fixed or suspended to
the floors Of the galleries of their nests,
celebrating this honey, which they sub
sequently discharge into cells similar to
those OF hive. Tt is also stated that
the women and children make it a
practice to dig them up and enjoy the
honey, and it is by no means unusual
for these insects to be served at table,
the distented abdomen being eaten as
delicate sweetmeat.
1t appears that the neuter insect with
out the distended abdomen, is the ac-
tive worker in these honey-ant establish
ments, the honey makers being unable
to move and therefore require to be
fed. Those who have watched the OPP
Grafton state that the workers carry
home leaves of different plants, upon
which the others feed, but the
kinds of plants thus used are not
known. It is the opinion of some OBJ
servers that the ants do not deposit
the honey in cells, but that they keep
the fluid in their bodies and the work
ers feed from them, and that when the
honey in the sack of an ant is exhaust
ed the insect soon dies.
In reference to the use made OF this
honey in those portions of New Mexi-
co where these curious little creatures
are found, it seems that the natives
produce a very pleasant drink from it
made in proportions of three Or four
drachms of the honey to about six
ounces of water. 1t has no commercial
value, is not brought to market, but
simply made for their own use. They
resort to this drink among themselves,
in the mountains, in cases OF fever
where medical attendance cannot be
obtained; the honey is also used by
them in its natural condition rs cure
for eye disease, especially for cataract.
Cotton Circular.
Liverpool. Dec. l3.-This weeks cir