368 NATURAL SCIENCE. June, 



one of assiduous perseverance. He seized every opportunity to 

 perfect himself in the art of accurately and scientifically depicting 

 plants, and at the date of writing the memoir (1758) he was living in 

 London, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and so famous as an 

 instructor in the " painting of plants and flowers " that, to quote his 

 own words, " If I could have divided myself into twenty parts I 

 could have had my hands full." 



Australian Termitid^. 

 In the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of Neiv South Wales, July, 

 1895, Mr. W. W. Froggatt has published the introduction to a study 

 of the Termites of Australia. It is chiefly devoted to particulars as 

 to the importance of these insects in other parts of the world, and is 

 no doubt to some extent prompted by a desire to obtain sympathy or 

 assistance in carrying out an extensive and much-needed work. We 

 hope that he will be successful and enabled to prosecute his work 

 thoroughly. We anticipate that it will prove more laborious and 

 difficult than he supposes, for the northern parts of Australia are now 

 among the headquarters of termite operations, and the species and 

 varieties of white ants are much more numerous than is commonly 

 believed, while their habits and economy present profound diff"erences, 

 which it is of the first importance to unravel. There are only about 

 one hundred species of termites known from all the world, but Mr. 

 G. D. Haviland, who has a greater acquaintance with the exotic forms 

 than anyone else, has obtained evidence which satisfies him that there 

 exist some hundreds of species in the island of Borneo alone. It is 

 probable that the Australian species are numerous, though only six 

 have yet been ascertained to exist there. We fear, from Mr. Froggatt's 

 remarks, that he has not yet obtained sufficient material for his 

 purpose. If an effort to elucidate the termite fauna of Australia 

 is to be really successful it must be based on extensive and well- 

 collected material, obtained in larger part from the Termitaria them- 

 selves. It is of less advantage to collect the winged forms away 

 from their nests, because they cannot then be associated with their 

 wingless fellows, which, from the naturalist's point of view, are of the 

 greatest interest. The nests should be examined at the period of 

 swarming, and winged specimens should be taken from the nest as 

 well as soldiers, workers, and young ; the queen and king should also 

 be looked for, and should, if found, be preserved, together with the 

 other forms from the same nest. It is of little use to attempt to work 

 out the habits and life-histories until the distinct species have been 

 elucidated ; there exists very great confusion in termite literature, 

 and much of it is due to observations made on one species being 

 mixed up with those derived from others that have been supposed to 

 be the same, though really different. When the species have been 

 satisfactorily discriminated, the resident naturalists will no doubt be 

 able to make out the life-histories and habits in a useful manner. In 



