124 BOMBAY DUCKS 



in which he actually succeeded in obtaining some workers 

 from a royal couple which were placed in captivity un- 

 attended by neuters. 



Thus it is possible that some of the winged forms 

 which appeared last night have been received into nests 

 which are already established, have set up a new 

 dynasty, and are to-day being acclaimed as kings and 

 queens by thousands of loyal subjects. It is, further, 

 almost certain that, of all the termites that showed 

 themselves yesterday, a few couples have paired, escaped 

 destruction, and managed to find holes or dark corners 

 in which to lay eggs that will produce workers which 

 will one day attack our property. But there is no 

 denying the fact that the vast majority of yesterday's 

 swarm have perished. 



This enormous waste of life is a very common occur- 

 rence among Nature's humbler servants. In the case of 

 some creatures it is probable that, of many thousand 

 young which are hatched, only one, or possibly two 

 come to maturity; all the remainder are cut off early 

 in life. 



Nature knows two methods of maintaining a species. 

 One is for the parent to give birth to thousands of 

 young and leave these to fend for themselves as best 

 they can, trusting that, out of the multitude, a few will 

 reach maturity and in their turn produce offspring. 

 The other method is for the mother to give birth to but 

 few young and to tend these few with the greatest care, 

 until they become old and strong enough to look after 

 themselves. In the end the results are the same, which- 

 ever method be adopted, but the former is the more 



