1):: I'rocccdiiu/s of I)td> iin \ca(hiin/ of t^rience. 



Tin- lirsl. or lower !!(,<, r lins tlim- liir.i;o ,v..,ins which are nseil for book 

 stonmc as well as a hoilcr room, a .i;oii(M-al storage room and a hook hind- 

 iii,i? room. The upper floor is used for a readiui;- and for the "stack" room. 



Originally the floor in the basement was yellow pine laid on joists em- 

 bedded in the ground so tliat the floor itself rested on the ground. Like- 

 wise, the lower edge of the baseboards and tlie bottoms of the door sills 

 rested on the ground. There was a wooden wain-coating, about four feet 

 high, around the room. The bottom of this wainscoatiug rested on tlie 

 ground. Four years ago this floor and waiiiscoating were removed because 

 they had '•rotted", and there is litt\' doubt that the "rotting" was caused 

 by termites. 



As i-! shown in tlie diagrammatic drawing. Figure I. B.. the wooden floor 

 was replaced by one of cement and a piaster wainscoaiting laid on patented 

 steel wire latli was used instead of the wooden one. Had the work l)een 

 done right at tliat time no frrlher termite injury would have been po'-'sible. 

 But instead of eliminating all wood in contact witli the ground and bring- 

 ing the cement floor flush witli the p'.astt'r wainsc:)ating. unfortunately, as is 

 sliown in the drawing, both the bottoms of the baseboards and cioor sills 

 were left in contact with the gr>un(l instead of allowing them to rest on the 

 cement floor. Further, the plaster wainscoatiug instead of being flush with 

 the stone walls of the building is supported by yellow pine beams in con- 

 tact witli the ground. Some of these beams come in contact with the 

 casings of the windows of the flrst floor and all of them are in contact with 

 a yeUow pine molding that tops the wainscoatiug four feet from the floor. 

 Of course, the baseboards and door sills were badly damaged (See Plates 

 J and II). By means of the joists suppnrtlng (be waiiiscoating as well as 

 the characteristic "covered runways" on the hack of the wainscoatiug the 

 termites had worked into the nioldiu'^ and frcMu it into the pictures and 

 their frames. The bottoms of the wooden hooki-aci<s were either in contact 

 with the infested ])asi'boar(ls oi- their li.ncks were in contact with the 

 infesteil molding and it was ;in easy matter f<ii- the termites to work into 

 them and from racks into the books. 



All the foregoing example;^ of termite injury were the work of R. flavipes 

 Kollar and are based on specimens olitained in each cas-e. In order to 

 identify termites it is necessary that eitlier soldiers or w'inged adults be 

 obtained. 



Nothing is known of the economic importance of /.'. virgmicus Banks in 

 Indiana though in other i)arts of the United States where it ocurs its dam- 

 age is similar to that of U. flariprs. 



Numerous cases of termite injui'y to fence posts and boards have been ob- 

 served and doubtless much of the "rotting" of timber is due to these insects. 



Si'veral ca: es of tei-mite injury to living plants "were reported during the 

 past year. But in only one case were specimens obtained. The first case 

 was reported by an Indianapolis florist who advised the writer that in 1910 

 he was forced to replant a lied of geraniums three times because termites 

 tunnelled each planting within a few weeks after it was set out. 



The second report of damage to living plants was reported by Mr. Frank 

 N. Wallace. State Entomologist, on :\Iay ir»tli from Silencer. Indiana. He 

 obtained the workers from a cavity in a living maple tree and obserA-ed that 

 tunnels were being made into the living wood. 



