Swiss Family Robinson

with the eggs?' inquired I , to see how far he understood the process; `carrying them about in the warmth of the sun until they are hatched?'
    `Ah! That is rather the chrysalis of the antworm , or larva, which is produced from an egg. I know they are called ants' eggs, but strictly speaking, that is incorrect.'
    `You are perfectly right, my boy. Well, if you have taken so much interest in watching the little ants of your native country, how delighted and astonished you would be to see the wonders performed by the vast tribes of large ants in foreign lands.
    `Some of these build heaps or nests, four or six feet high and proportionately broad, which are so strong and firm that they defy equally sunshine and rain. They are, within, divided into regular streets, galleries, vaults, and nurseries. So firmly are these mounds built, that with interior alterations, a deserted one might be used for a baking- oven.
    `The ant, although respected since the days of King Solomon as a model of industry, is not in itself an attractive insect.
    `It exudes a sticky moisture, its smell is unpleasant, and it destroys and devours whatever eatable comes in its way. Although in our own country it does little harm, the large ants of foreign lands are most destructive and troublesome; it being very difficult to check their depredations. Fortunately they have enemies by whose exertions their numbers are kept down; birds, other insects, and even four-footed beasts prey upon them.
    `Chief among the latter is the ant-eater, or tamanoir , of South America , a large creature six or seven feet in length, covered with long coarse hair, drooping like a heavy plume over the hind quarters. The head is wonderfully elongated and very narrow; it is destitute of teeth, and the tongue resembles somewhat a large great red earth-worm. It has immensely strong curved claws, with which it tears and breaks down and scratches to pieces the hard walls of the ant-heaps; then, protruding its sticky tongue, it coils and twists it about among the terrified millions disturbed by its attack; they adhere to this horrible invader, and are drawn irresistibly backward into the hungry, toothless jaws awaiting them.
    `The little ant-eater is not more than about twenty-one inches in length, has a shorter and more natural looking head, and fine silky fur. It usually lives in trees.'
    I was pleased to find my memory served me so well on this subject, as it interested my boy amazingly; and occupied us for a considerable time while we traveled onward.
    Arriving presently at a grove of tall trees, with very strong, broad, thick leaves, we paused to examine them; they bore a round fig-like fruit, full of little seeds and of a sour harsh taste.
    Fritz saw some gummy resin exuding from cracks in the bark, and it reminded him of the boyish delight afforded by collecting gum from cherry-trees at home, so that he must needs stop to scrape off as much as he could. He rejoined me presently, attempting to soften what he had collected in his hands; but finding it would not work like gum, he was about to fling it away, when he suddenly found that he could stretch it, and that it sprang back to its original size.
    `Oh father, only look! This gum is quite elastic! Can it possibly be india -rubber?'
    `What!' cried I, `Let me see it! A valuable discovery that would be, indeed; and I do believe you are perfectly right!'
    `Why would it be so very valuable, father?' inquired Fritz. `I have only seen it used for rubbing out pencil marks.'
    `India-rubber,' I replied, `or, more properly, caoutchouc , is a milky resinous juice which flows from certain trees in considerable quantities when the stem is purposely tapped.
    `These trees are indigenous to the South American countries of Brazil , Guiana, and Cayenne . The natives, who first obtained it, used it to form bottles by smearing earthen flasks with repeated coatings of the gum when just fresh from the trees, and when hardened and sufficiently thick, they broke the mold, shook out the fragments, and hung the bottles in the smoke, when they became firmer, and of a dark color.
    `While moist, the savages were in the habit of drawing rude figures and lines on the resin by way of adornment; these marks you may have observed, for the bottles obtained from the natives by the Spaniards and Portuguese have for years been brought to Europe, and cut into portions to be sold for use in drawing. Caoutchouc can be put to many uses, and I am delighted to have it here,