Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-02-23

mouths drop of nutritive liquid. and
at the birth of the pupa seen the nurses
aid nature by tearing with their man.
dibles the silken tissue. one feels that
he knows these little beings quite
Familiarity. But aside from these traits
OF town life we find them possessed
with others which fill US with astonish-
ment and wonder.
See their cattle. their mich cows,
their stables. Strange as it may APP
pear. many OF them own cows that
they tend and milk. herds that they
keep in special stables. that they con-
slider as their property. that they de-
fend against enemies and carry with
them when they move from place to
place. These herds are composed of
vine-fretters and gall insects. They
bring them home and milk them by
sucking their abdomen, many being
nourished exclusively upon this sweet
liquid. They win them over by feed
ing them upon sprigs or roots. as their
manner of life may be, and lodging
them in airy pavilions or underground
passages. according to their taste
These little insects constitute their
principal wealth, and as farm with
its cattle, SO an ant-hill with its plant
lice is considered more or less rich.
according to the number in possession.
With what passion they wage war for
the possession Of vine-frettcr tree,
and with what ludlcrous tenacity they
extricate these insects. larger than
themselves. when they are embedded
in the bark. They perseverc in pull
ing them out, but as they are careful
not to wound they do not hurt them.
All this. together with the evident sat-
isfaction the fretters show at being
MIXED, proves them to be an impor-
tant elem ent in the domestic economy
of their owners.
Their wars are too well known for
us to enlarge upon them. Often fero-
cious and merciless. they are waged
for the possession of the fretters and
the larvae destined to yield slaves.
Their military procedures vary with
different tribes. The jaw Of the great
slave, or Amazon ant. is very strong,
and armed with sharp-pointed saw
teeth. They attack their enemy by
inclosing his head in their wide-open
jaws and then wrenching it off. A
smaller variety fall upon their adversar-
les legs and pull them out. Again
the modus operandi of the formica
excesta is to spring upon his enemy's
back and in dead earnest perform the
quick job of saving off his head.
Military tactics. with sentincls and
reconnoisances. sieges according to
rule, cities piliaged. children carried
away. prison ers executed; all that
ancient human warfare portrays we
see repeated to an exaggerated de-
gree among ants. Some of them have
SO abused authority and CARED tyranny
to that extent that they have them
selves become the slaves of their vas
sails and can not exist without them.
Such is the case with the Amazon
ants. These warriors in brown attire |
are puts sant and redoubted knights |
whose aristocratic hands have never
touched either wood or hammer.
who contemn the art of building ard |
the responsibility of domestic life,
whose implements of toll, the chisel.
The saw and the trowel. from long dis
lse have disappeared from their jaws
% be replaced by two terrible cine
ers fit only for works of mur-
Ter and rapine. There lives are spent
carrying war and devastation among
heir peaceful neighbors for the poses
ION of their valuable slaves, which
o them are rs indispensable as the
newly born. for being without the
aculty of feeding themselves these
Terminate nabobs would perish with
iunger beside the daintiest viands did
lot their devoted servitors place their
God Immediately within their mouths.
This varied social organization. with
is castles and division of labor, its
owns as populous rs London or Paris.
n which all the inhabitants recognize
ach other. its feuds between neighbour
NC cities. its territories organized and
offended, its wars. its combats, all
how an intellectual state but slightly
Inferior to that Of the savage human
RIDES in the heart Of Africa or the ISL
nds of Oceanica. Ants even have
heir graveyards. Yes. real grave
ards. placed at some distance from
heir cities. to which they carry their
cad. Some tribes of ants have first
lass tombs for their citizens of dis
motion and head masters and pits for
he common herd. The first are placed
idle by side with great care, and the I
theirs heaped pell nell and without ;
rider. Again l repeat, all this has
cen proven. together with many other
acts too numerous to recall, notwith-
landing the interest attaching to
hem.
Here we see q wonderful creation. {