abraded by the mandibles of the bee.  These, when the hollow was completed to the depth of several inches, were partially replaced in the excavation after being agglutinated to form partitions between the eggs, as they were deposited within.  The mandibles[2] of these bees are admirably formed for the purpose of working out the tunnels required, being short, stout, and usually furnished at the tip with two teeth which are rounded somewhat into the form of cheese-cutters.

[Footnote 1:  Xylocopa tenuiscapa, Westw.; Another species found in Ceylon is the X. latipes, Drury.]

[Footnote 2:  See figure above.]

[Illustration:  THE CARPENTER BEE]

These when brought into operation cut out the wood in the same way as a carpenter’s double gouge, the teeth being more or less hollowed out within.  The female alone is furnished with these powerful instruments.  In the males the mandibles are slender as compared with those of the females.  The bores of some of these bees are described as being from twelve to fourteen inches in length.

Ants.—­As to ants, I apprehend that, notwithstanding their numbers and familiarity, information is very imperfect relative to the varieties and habits of these marvellous insects in Ceylon.[1] In point of multitude it is scarcely an exaggeration to apply to them the figure of “the sands of the sea.”  They are everywhere; in the earth, in the houses, and on the trees; they are to be seen in every room and cupboard, and almost on every plant in the jungle.  To some of the latter they are, perhaps, attracted by the sweet juices secreted by the aphides and coccidae.[2] Such is the passion of the ants for sugar, and their wonderful faculty of discovering it, that the smallest particle of a substance containing it is quickly covered with them, though placed in the least conspicuous position, where not a single one may have been visible a moment before.  But it is not sweet substances alone that they attack; no animal or vegetable matter comes amiss to them:  no aperture appears too small to admit them; it is necessary to place everything which it may be desirable to keep free from their invasion, under the closest cover, or on tables with cups of water under every foot.  As scavengers, they are invaluable; and as ants never sleep, but work without cessation during the night as well as by day, every particle of decaying vegetable or putrid animal matter is removed with inconceiveable speed and certainty.  In collecting shells, I have been able to turn this propensity to good account; by placing them within their reach, the ants in a few days removed every vestige of the mollusc from the innermost and otherwise inaccessible whorls; thus avoiding all risk of injuring the enamel by any mechanical process.