90 Procc('(1in(/s of hidhnin Acddou}! of Science. 



(.r into its coiitoiits a .urcat distance so that the limits of a colony are hard 

 to detine. It is therefore api>arent tliat termite injury to buildings and 

 their contents is intimately correlated with the construction of such build- 

 ings. This is borne out by the fact that new buildings as well as old ones 

 are subject to attaclc. As has been said before, the swarming of termites 

 in a building sliould be regarded as a danger signal though it is not an in- 

 fallible one. because a building or its contents may be infested and no 

 swarming occur, in which case the hidden work of the insects might escape 

 notice until irreparable injury is done. Some examples of the damage 

 done to buildings in Indianapolis and a fuller discussion of the damage 

 done at the Columbus Pulilic Library well illustrates certain things that 

 should be avoided in the construction of buildings. 



The popular cement floor of porches, unless i)roperly constructed, offers 

 a means through which, termites may gain ontrance to the frame work and 

 weatherboarding of houses. The gi-out of cindei's and gravel are often 

 placed flush against a wooden beam and the cement is l)rought flush with 

 the weatherboarding. Tonally in time there is a decided crack between 

 the cement and the wood, allowing watei' to enter when the porch is 

 scrubbed or during hea^y rains. Tlie cinders and gravel grout are no 

 repellant to the termites as there are usually sutHcient holes in the latter 

 through which the termites can work and thus gain entrance to the wx)od. 

 Three such cases of injury have been obsei'ved during the past season. 



In the case of the factory building wlK-re swarming occurred on March 

 oth it was found that the floor of the othce was laid dirt'ctly on a bed of 

 cinders and the wooden walls which separal^'d the oltice from the rest of 

 the building were flush with these cinders. Likewise, the lL'xl2 untreated 

 yellow pine pillars which supiK)rte(l tlie roof were set on stones one foot 

 oeneath the surface of the ground. Three years pi-evi(Misly the floor had 

 been removed because of termite damage and replaceil with another wooden 

 floor. It is needless to .say that the conditions for termite injury were ideal. 

 Not only the floor Itut the walls and a mnnhei- of the pillars were badly 

 damaged. 



In a dwelling in the northern ])art of Indianapolis termites had gained 

 entrance to a "built in ice box", the wood of which was constantly moist 

 and from this source had riddled .several of the beams supixirting the 

 house. At another place where the weather hoarding of the kitchen was 

 flush with the ground this was badly damaged. 



At the Columbus Public Library termites did the worst and most extensive 

 damage that has so far been recorded for these insects in Indiana. Three 

 hundred volumes of books were so badly riddled that they were a mere 

 shell. The wooden racks in which tiiey were kept were badly damaged 

 and all baseboards, door casings and moldings oil the first floor of this 

 building were more or less infesteil making their removal necessary. Even 

 pictures in contact with the molding were ruined. This building is of lime- 

 stone, two stories high, and is what is connuonly known as "flre proof" in 

 its construction. It sets on an embankment about three feet high and is so 

 built that the floor of the flrst story is slightly below the level of the em- 

 bankment (See Diagrammatic Cross-section of Building. Figure I, A.) 



