INSECTA— TERMITES. 837 



which are contrived with such art, that we are at a loss to say, whether they 

 are most to be admired on that account, or for their enormous magnitude and 

 solidity. They not only build larger and more curious nests, but are also 

 more numerous, and do infinitely more mischief to mankind than other 

 species. When these insects attack such things as we would not wish to 

 have injured, we must consider them as most pernicious; but when they 

 are employed in destroying decayed trees and substances which only encum- 

 ber the surface of the earth, they may be justly supposed very useful. It is 

 apparent to all, who have made observation, that they contribute more to 

 the quick dissolution of putrescent matter »han any other. They are so 

 necessary in all hot climates, that even in the open fields, a dead animal or 

 small putrid substance cannot be laid upon the ground two minutes, be- 

 fore it will be covered with flies and their maggots, which instantly enter- 

 ing quickly devour one part, and perforating the rest in various directions, 

 expose the whole to be much sooner dissipated by the elements. In a few 

 weeks, these insects destroy and carry away the bodies of large trees, with- 

 out leaving a particle behind, thus clearing the place for other vegetables, 

 which soon fill up every vacancy ; and in places, where two or three years 

 before, there has been a populous town, if the inhabitants, as is frequently 

 the case, have chosen to abandon it, there shall be a very thick wood, and 

 not the vestige of a post to be seen, unless the wood has been of a species 

 which, from its hardness, is called iron wood. 



"The nests of the termites bellicosi are so numerous all over the island 

 of Bananas, and the adjacent continent of Africa, that it is scarce possible 

 to stand upon any open place, where one of these buildings is not to be seen 

 within fifty paces, and frequently two or three are to be seen almost close to 

 each other. In some parts near Senegal, as mentioned by M. Adanson, 

 their number, magnitude, and closeness of situation, make them appear like 

 the villages of the natives. These buildings are usually termed hills, from 

 their outward appearance, which is that of little hills more or less conical, 

 and about ten or twelve feet in perpendicular height above the common sur- 

 face of the ground. 



"These hills continue quite bare until they are six or eight feet high; but, 

 in time, the dead barren clay, of which they are composed, becomes fertiliz- 

 ed by the genial power of the elements in these prolific climates; and in 

 the second or third year, the hillock, if not overshaded by trees, becomes 

 almost covered with grass and other plants; and in the dry season, when 

 the herbage is burnt up by the rays of the sun, it is not much unlike a very 

 large haycock. 



"Every one of these buildings consists of two distinct parts, the exterior 

 and the interior. The exterior is one large shell in the manner of a dome, 

 large and strong enough to shelter the interior from the vicissitudes of the 

 weather, and the inhabitants from the attacks of natural or accidental ene- 

 mies. It is always, therefore, much stronger than the interior building. 



