(FROM FACTS AND FICTIONS OF ZOOeLOGY.)

BY ANDREW WILSON.

[Illustration:  NEST OF TERMITES.]

Amongst those spectacles and incidents in human existence which remain fixed on the memory of the spectator from their sad or unwonted nature, that of a panic-stricken crowd, gathered by the report of some national disaster, stands pre-eminent.  Still more terrible in its details is the history of some catastrophe which has laid a city in ruins and wrought death and desolation to thousands of the inhabitants.  A deadly epidemic, or fatal plague, searing a nation with its dread, mysterious power, is a calamity appalling enough; but the spectacle of a city overthrown at one fell swoop by the earthquake shock may perhaps rank foremost amongst the untoward incidents which environ the sphere of man.  A certain event, occurring during a recent holiday by the sea, tended forcibly to impress upon the mind that the great catastrophes of life are not limited to humanity’s special sphere, and that in lower life panic and alarm seem to exercise no small influence, as in man’s estate; whilst the incident referred to also afforded food for reflection on topics not far removed from some weighty matters in the history of man’s own nature and constitution.  In this latter view, it is especially hoped the observations of a brief period of leisure-time may not be without their due meed of interest.

The chance removal from its secure site, of a large stone placed in close proximity to the sea-beach, where the bliss of idleness was being fully exemplified by a small party of holiday-makers, proved, on close examination, to be the cause of a literal revolution in lower life.  Imagine a city to be totally unroofed, try to conceive of the sudden downfall of houses and buildings, and the consequent panic of the inhabitants, and you may obtain an idea of the disturbance on simple procedure effected in the peaceable, well-ordered colony of ants which had located themselves securely beneath the friendly shelter of the stone.  The scene presented to view was one of the most curious and interesting which could engage the attention of an observer in any field of inquiry, and the occurrence certainly banished the idle mood of the time, and lent a zest to the subsequent hours of our holiday.  Running hither and thither in wild confusion were the denizens of this underground colony; their six little legs carrying their curious globular bodies backward and forward over the disturbed area from which the stone had been removed.  At first the movements of the ants were extremely erratic and purposeless.  Panic and alarm appeared to be the order of the day during the few minutes which elapsed after removal of the stone.  But soon the eye could discern movements of purposive kind on the part of the alarmed residents.  There was “racing and chasing” in all directions:  but the ants which had at first radiated from the centre of disturbance, as if