l888.] NEW-YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 151 



him, explaining his exhibit, was read from the chair, as follows : 



" The slide of woody fibre, or pulp, prepared from a fragment 

 of a Termite's, or White Ant's, nest, from Colon, is of special 

 interest. 



" The wood has been so thoroughly comminuted, that it is 

 doubtful whether it could be recognized as woody particles 

 under the microscope, unaided by chemical reagents. 



" A study of similar slides throws some light upon their work 

 of destruction on many kinds of wood, in structures. 



" The particles of wood do not have as sharp, angular corners 

 as one would naturally expect of chips cut from solid wood ; 

 on the other hand, they seem as though made from softened 

 wood, or that undergoing decay. The particles have more the 

 "appearance of little pellets than cuttings, which in some measure 

 is doubtless due to the form, motion and pressure of the man- 

 dibles. After they are cut the next step is not clear. Some 

 cuttings serve as food for the insects, as they are found in the 

 alimentary canal. Others are mixed with some substance which 

 causes the particles to adhere, and then are fashioned into the 

 walls, which form the galleries of the nest. 



" The walls are built up of a number of thin layers of the 

 cuttings, give evidence of being prepared with great care, and 

 become quite hard and solid. A fragment thrown into water 

 does not disintegrate by soaking, and after many hours it 

 requires trituration to separate the particles. 



" On burning a piece, nearly all of the substance is consumed; 

 the residuum, however, being much more than the natural ash of 

 the wood — some clay is present. Phloroglucin gives a reaction, 

 showing some lignin is still in the woody particles. In many of 

 the specimens I found fragments of the mycelium of a fungus, 

 and upon examining the stick of yellow pine, 6x12 inches, 

 which contained the nest, found it was in process of decay at 

 the point of attack. 



"The rainfall at Colon is over eleven feet per unman, and 

 many species of wood, in the form of lumber, absorb and re- 

 tain much more moisture than the same kind of lumber con- 

 tains here ; consequently the fibres are much softer. Several 

 specimens of white ash furniture were shown me, of which the 

 boards had been completely tunnelled by the Termites. They 



