612 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



thing, indeed, that I could think of or conveniently catch, which it 

 seemed possible my little captive might fancy. Of all this heteroge- 

 neous collection, nothing, so far as I could see, was ever killed or eaten. 

 A tiny piece of fresh beef, placed in her cage at night, was the only 

 thing that I could persuade her to touch. Even of this I am not 

 absolutely certain. In the morning these little pellets of fresh meat 

 were usually found rolled in the sand and often apparently dimin- 

 ished in size. Several times they disappeared altogether. The pres- 

 ence, however, of other predatory insects sometimes left the matter a 

 little in doubt. But, as my captive remained in good health for over 

 a month while this plan of trial dieting was in progress, I am inclined 

 to think that more or less of the fresh beef was really consumed by 

 her. Still, she took the greatest care that I should never catch her 

 eating, even when surprised with a sudden light at night, a time 

 when she was always especially active. 



I was getting a little tired of this seemingly fruitless investiga- 

 tion, and had about concluded to persuade my Thelyphonus to crawl 

 into a bottle in company with a few drops of chloroform, to have her 

 picture taken, and then forward the " embalmed remains " to the 

 Museum of Natural History in Central Park, New York, to which 

 they had already been promised. 



I concluded, however, to make one more effort. So the next day 

 I spent some time in hunting for new and untried insects, of which 

 I procured half a dozen or so, and among other things quite a lot of 

 so-called "wood-lice," "white ants," termites, our only representa- 

 tive of a family that in most warm countries is so destructive to ex- 

 posed wooden structures. All of these " finds " were tumbled, as 

 usual, upon the floor of my captive's cage, and I left them with very 

 little expectation that she would see among them anything that 

 suited her fastidious taste. The next morning, to my surprise, every 

 white ant had disappeared; nothing else was touched. The question 

 was solved. For about three weeks my Thelyphonus was supplied 

 each day with a liberal allowance of what in this latitude, at least, 

 seems to be its exclusive food. 



Now, this white ant (Termes flavipes) is in Florida one of our 

 worst pests. Possibly there may be some compensating benefits 

 which they confer, in the more rapid removal of decaying vegetable 

 matter. In most respects, however, they are an unmitigated nui- 

 sance. The annual destruction of property, of fencing, building 

 foundations, and exposed woodwork of every kind must be estimated 

 at hundreds of thousands of dollars. The worst of it is, too, that 

 it is impossible to know when they are at work. They are always 

 hidden. In case they are compelled in their destructive labors to 

 pass over the outside of anything, they always build a hard gallery 



