delicate goods, and heading the tiny poisoned arrows which are projected through the blow-gun of the native.

These Ants, however, find the fibre useful for their work, and contrive to weave it so dexterously, that the individuality of the fibres is lost, and they are all made into a compact and uniform mass. The size of the nests varies, but is sometimes very considerable, a full-sized nest being often as large as a man's head.

The Ant itself is rather a curious little creature, dark in colour, covered with many angular protuberances, and being remarkable for a couple of long, sharp spines that project from the thorax, one on either side. Its scientific names, Polyrachis bispinosa, are given in consequence of these projections, the first name being composed of two Greek words, signifying many-peaked, and the second being formed from two Latin words, signifying two-spined.

THERE are many insects whose habitations are peculiarly annoying to mankind, and yet are extremely interesting to those who take an interest in the workings of instinct. Chief among these insects is the well-known CLOTHES MOTH. There are several allied species which popularly go by this name, but the most plentiful is that which bears the scientific title of Tinea vestianella. These destructive little creatures are proverbially injurious to clothes, especially if the garments be made of wool or furs, vegetable fabrics being not to their taste. Some species affect dried insects, and are in consequence extremely hateful to the entomologist; while their ravages on furs and feathers, and even on leather itself, render them the dread of those who, like myself, possess collections of natural history or ethnology.

In their winged state, the moths themselves do no direct harm; but their young are doubly mischievous, firstly, because they devour the fabrics in which they live, and secondly, because they cut up the cloth, fur, or feathers, in order to obtain material for their home. Possibly for the sake of concealment as well as protection, the larva instinctively forms a habitation which entirely covers its white body, and, which is almost imperceptible to the eye, because it is formed of the same materials as the fabric on which it lies.

The habitation is tubular in form, though not exactly cylindrical, being rather larger in the middle than at the ends, and

RR

open so as to allow the extremities of the caterpillar to protrude. One object in this structure is, to enable the inmate to turn in its cell, an operation which must necessarily be performed whenever the tubular home is enlarged. The process of enlargement is continually going on, and it is in consequence of this proceeding that so much material is used.

The manner in which the little creature enlarges its home is as follows:

Without quitting its tubular home, it cuts a longitudinal slit throughout half its length or so, and opens the case to the required width. It then proceeds to weave a triangular piece of webbing, with which it fills up the opened slit, and joins the edges with perfect accuracy. As one end of the case is now larger than the other, the caterpillar turns its attention to the other end, cuts it open, widens it, and fills up the gap precisely as it had done to the first part. When the soft tube is sufficiently widened, it is lengthened by the addition of rings to each extremity.

By taking advantage of this peculiar method of house-making, observant persons have forced the Clothes Moth to make their tubular homes of any colour and almost of any pattern. By shifting the caterpillar from one coloured cloth to another, the required tints are produced, and the pattern is gained by watching the creature at work, and transferring it at the proper

For example, a very pretty specimen can be produced by turning out of its original home a half-grown caterpillar, and putting it on a piece of bright green cloth. After it has made its tube, it can be shifted to a black cloth, and when it has cut the longitudinal slit, and has half filled it up, it can be transferred to a piece of scarlet cloth, so that the complementary colours of green and scarlet are brought into juxtaposition, and "thrown out" by the contrast with the black.

The caterpillar is not very particular as to the kind of material which it employs, and on which it feeds. Mr. Rennie makes the following observations on one of these creatures, whose proceedings he had watched. "The caterpillar first took up its abode in a specimen of the ghost-moth (Hepialus humuli), where, finding few suitable materials for building, it had recourse to the cork of the drawer, with the chips of which it made a structure, almost as warm as it would have done from wool. Whether it

took offence at our disturbing it one day, or whether it did not find sufficient food in the body of the ghost-moth, we know not; but it left its cork house, and travelled about eighteen inches, selected the old lady' moth (Mormo maura), one of the largest insects in the drawer, and built a new apartment, composed partly of cork as before, and partly of bits clipped out of the moth's wings.

"We have seen these caterpillars form their habitations of every sort of insect, from a butterfly to a beetle, and the soft, feathery wings of moths answer their purpose very well; but when they fall in with such hard materials as the musk-beetle, or the large scolopendra of the West Indies, they find some difficulty in the building.

When the structure is finished, the insect deems itself secure to feed on the materials of the cloth, or other animal matter within its reach, provided it is dry and free from fat or grease, which Réaumur found it would not touch. For building, it always selects the straightest and loosest pieces of wool; but for food it prefers the shortest and most compact; and to procure these, it eats into the body of the stuff, rejecting the pile or nap, which it necessarily cuts across at the origin and permits to fall, leaving it threadbare, as if it had been much worn."

From the account which has just been given, it is evident that the caterpillar must be able to turn completely round in its case, and in order to enable it to perform this evolution, the tube is much wider in the middle than at the ends.

The instinct of the parent moth enables it to discover with astonishing certainty any substance which may afford food to its future young. Stuffed birds suffer terribly from the moth, because the arsenical soap with which the skins are preserved does not extend its poisonous influence to the feathers. I have known whole cases of birds to be destroyed by the moth, all the feathers being eaten, and nothing left but the bare skins.

Even the most deadly poison, corrosive sublimate, is not effectual, unless it settles on every feather. There is now before me a stuffed golden-eye duck, preserved by myself, the close plumage of which has partially thrown off the poisoned solution, and has consequently admitted the moth in small patches of feathers, especially about the neck. There is also in my collection a Kaffir shield, made of an ox-hide, which has been washed

Ꭱ Ꭱ ?

with the solution, and is almost entirely secure from the depredations of the moth. Yet there are one or two spots where a thong has protected the hair, and in those very spots the pertinacious moths have laid their eggs, and, in one or two instances, the caterpillars have succeeded in attaining their perfect state.

IF the reader will refer to the large illustration, he will see a representation of that curious temporary habitation which is popularly termed an Elk-yard.

The ELK, or MOOSE (Alces malchis), inhabits the northern parts of America and Europe, and is, consequently, an animal which is formed to endure severe cold. Although a very large and powerful animal, measuring sometimes seven feet in height at the shoulders—a height which is very little less than that of an average elephant-it has many foes and is much persecuted both by man and beast. During the summer-time it is tolerably safe, but in the winter it is beset by many perils.

In its native country the snow falls so thickly, that the inhabitants of a more temperate climate can hardly imagine the result of a heavy storm. The face of the earth is wholly changed -well-known pits and declivities have vanished-white hills stand where was formerly a level plain-tier upon tier of mimic fortifications rise above each other, the walls being scarped and cut by the wind in weird resemblance of human architecture.

During the sharp frosts, the Elk runs but little risk, because it can traverse the hard, frozen surface of the snow with considerable speed, although with a strange, awkward gait. Its usual pace is a swinging trot; but so light is its action, and so long are its legs, that it quietly trots over obstacles which a horse could not easily leap, because the frozen surface of the snow, although competent to withstand the regular trotting force, could not endure the sudden impact of a horse when leaping. As an example of the curious trot of this animal, I may mention that on one occasion an Elk was seen to trot uninterruptedly over a number of fallen tree-trunks, some of which were nearly five feet in diameter.

It is a remarkable fact that the split hoofs of the Elk spread widely when the foot is placed on the ground, coming together again with a loud snap when it is raised. In consequence of