Their num’rous legs, and former color lost,

The insects could a human figure boast.”

“As many ants the num’rous branches bear, The same their labor, and their frugal care; The branches too alike commotion found, And shook th’ industrious creatures on the ground, Who by degrees (what ‘s scarce to be believed) A nobler form and larger bulk received, And on the earth walked an unusual pace, With manly strides, and an erected face; Their num’rous legs, and former color lost, The insects could a human figure boast.”

↩

Latian, or Italian; any one of the Latin race. ↩