Note 256 — LETTER IV. (continued 2)

These ants are mentioned first by Herodotus, iii. c. 102, where he gives an account of the stratagem by which the Indians steal the gold thrown up by them as they burrow. The most plausible conjecture is that which identifies this animal with the Pangolin or Ant-eater. See Blakesley’s and Rawlinson’s notes on the passage, in the latter of which the statement in the text is referred to.