fully divested of all other grasses and weeds during the time it is growing. When it is ripe the grain is taken care of, the dry stubble cut away and carried off, the paved area being left unencumbered until the ensuing autumn, when the same antrice' reappears within the same circle, and receives the same agricultural attention as was bestowed upon the previous crop; and so on year after year, as I know to be the case, in all situations where the ants' settlements are protected from graminivorous animals."

In a second letter, Dr. Lincecum, in reply to an inquiry from Mr. Darwin, whether he supposed that the Ants plant seeds for the ensuing crop, says, "I have not the slightest doubt of it. And my conclusions have not been arrived at from hasty or careless observation, nor from seeing the ants do something that looked a little like it, and then guessing at the results. I have at all seasons watched the same ant-cities during the last twelve years, and I know that what I stated in my former letter is true. I visited the same cities yesterday, and found the crop of ant-rice growing finely, and exhibiting also the signs of high cultivation, and not a blade of any other kind of grass or weed was to be seen within twelve inches of the circular row of antrice."

The economical habits of this wonderful insect far surpass anything that Solomon has written of the Ant, and it is not too much to say that if any of the Scriptural writers had ventured to speak of an Ant that not only laid up stores of grain, but actually prepared the soil for the crop, planted the seed, kept the ground free from weeds, and finally reaped the harvest, the statement would have been utterly disbelieved, and the credibility not only of that particular writer but of the rest of Scripture severely endangered. We all know that Solomon's statement concerning the Ant has afforded one of the stock arguments against the truth of Scripture; and here we have his statements not only corroborated to the very letter by those who have visited Palestine for the express purpose of investigating its zoology, but far surpassed by the observations of a scientific man who had watched the insects for a series of years. One of the Ants of Palestine, shown on page 621, belongs to the same genus as the Agricultural Ant.

As may be inferred from the above description, the habits of Ants vary greatly according to their species and the climate in which they live. All, however, are wonderful creatures; and whether we look at their varied architecture, their mode of procuring food, the system of slave-catching adopted by some,

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."-PROV. vi. 6.

the "milking" of aphides practised by others, their astonishing mode of communicating thought to each other, and their perfect system of discipline, we feel how true were the words of the royal naturalist, that the Ants are "little upon earth, but are exceeding wise."

There is one point of their economy in which all known

species agree. Only those which are destined to become perfectly developed males and females attain the winged state. Before they assume the transitional or pupal condition, each spins around itself a slight but tough silken cocoon, in which it lies secure during the time which is consumed in developing its full perfection of form.

When it is ready to emerge, the labourer Ants aid in freeing it from the cocoon, and in a short time it is ready to fly. Millions of these winged ants rise into the air, seeking their mates, and, as they are not strong on the wing, and are liable to be tossed about by every gust of wind, vast numbers of them perish. Whole armies of them fall into the water and are drowned or devoured by fish, while the insectivorous birds hold great festival on so abundant a supply of food. As soon as they are mated they bend their wings forward, snap them off, and pass the rest of their lives on the ground.

In consequence of the destruction that takes place among the winged Ants, the Arabs have a proverb which is applied to those who are over-ambitious: "If God purposes the destruction of an ant, He permits wings to grow upon her."

HOMOPTERA.

THE CRIMSON WORM.

The scarlet or crimson of Scripture-Signification of the word Toláâth- The Coccus or Cochineal of Palestine compared with that of Mexico - Difference between the sexes-Mode of preparing the insect-The Arabic word Kermes.

WE now come to another order of insects.

Just as the purple dye was obtained from a mollusc, the scarcely less valuable crimson or scarlet was obtained from an insect. The Hebrew word toldath is translated in the Authorized Version either as "crimson" or "scarlet," but its full signification is the Crimson-worm. This is an insect scientifically named Coccus ilicis on account of its food. It is closely allied to the well-known cochineal of Mexico, which gives a more brilliant dye, and has at the present day nearly superseded

the native insect. It is, however, still employed as a dye in some parts of the country.

As its name imports, it feeds on the holm oak (Quercus coccifera), a tree which is very plentiful in Palestine, and attains a large size.

Like the cochineal insect of Mexico, the female is very much larger than her mate, and it is only from her that the dye is procured. At the proper season of year the females are gathered off the trees and carefully dried, the mode of drying having some effect upon the quality of the dye. During the process of

"Though your sins be as red as crimson, they shall be white as snow."-ISA. i. 18.

drying the insect alters greatly, both in colour and size, shrinking to less than half its original dimensions, and assuming a greyish brown hue instead of a deep red. When placed in water it soon gives out its colouring matter, and communicates to the water the rich colour with which we are familiar under the name of carmine, or crimson. This latter name, by the way, is only a corruption of the Arabic kermes, which is the name of the insect.

The reader will remember that this was one of the three sacred colours-scarlet, purple, and blue—used in the vestments of the priests and the hangings of the tabernacle, the white not taking rank as a colour.

The Coccus belongs to the Homoptera in common with the cicada, the lantern flies, the hoppers, and the aphides.

On page 623 the large females are shown on the prickly pear, and near them are the tiny males, some flying and some on the leaves.

LEPIDOPTERA.

THE CLOTHES MOTH.

The Moth of Scripture evidently the Clothes Moth-The Sâs and the 'AshSimilitude between the Hebrew sas and the Greek sês- Moths and garmentsAccumulation of clothes in the East-Various uses of the hoarded robes-The Moths, the rust, and the thief.

ONLY one Lepidopterous insect is mentioned by name in the Scriptures. This is the MOTH, by which we must always understand some species of Clothes Moth-in fact, one of the Tineidæ, which are as plentiful and destructive in Palestine as in this country.

Two words are used in the Old Testament to express the Moth, one of which, sás, only occurs once, and then in connexion with the other word 'ash. The resemblance of the Hebrew sas and the Greek sés is to be noted, both of them denominating the same insect. See Is. li. 8: "For the moth (ash) shall eat them up like garment, and the worm (sas) shall eat them like wool." Buxtorf translates sås as tinea, blatta.

Several references are made to the Moth in the Scriptures, and nearly all have reference to its destructive habits. The solitary exceptions occur in the Book of Job, "Behold, He put no trust in His servants; and His angels He charged with folly: how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose