206 SPOLIA ZBYLANICA. 



space of a square foot by unceasingly applying small clumps of 

 masonry mixed with their saliva. 



An interesting observation could now be made. Owing to the 

 fact that evaporation was greatly reduced under the bell-jar, the 

 newly built roof remained soft and unstable and retained this 

 consistency for several days until I exposed it to the free air, 

 when it completely hardened after a few hours. 



The mixing of the building material with the saliva of the 

 Termites not only ensures a very firm construction, but makes 

 the walls in a high degree resistent towards wetting. The Ter- 

 mite buildings brought by me to Munich still show this property 

 with great clearness. When I tried to saturate one of the nests 

 with lime water in order to strengthen it, it could not be wetted, 

 whereas this method was constantly employed with advantage to 

 the nests of European Hymenoptera, &c. The Termite nest 

 showed an equal resistance against being wetted with alcoholic 

 solution of shellac. 



From this observation something may be inferred which other- 

 wise the inspection of the internal disposition of the Termite nest 

 reveals. For this purpose I will first describe the fungus cakes 

 in regard to their structure and in their relations to the nest. 



Upon opening a Termite nest one finds that the substance of the 

 " truffle "* is friable and soft. Only when this is the case are the 

 recesses of the truffle covered with mycelial nodules and the 

 entire structure populated by numerous Termites with their 

 larvae. Sometimes I came across places in the nests where the 

 truffles were hard and dry ; then they were destitute of nodules 

 and were not inhabited, except for a few scattered workers in the 

 cells. Fresh " cakes " dry rather readily when exposed to a current 

 of air. It is thus very easy to prepare them for transport, and they 

 have frequently been received into zoological collections, although 

 their actual nature has not been recognized. They become as 

 hard as wood, but always remain brittle and very fragile owing to 

 their delicate composition. 



Microscopic examination of their substance shows that the fine 

 brown scaffolding of which they are composed consists exclusive- 

 ly of finely chewed wood. Thus the great wood-hunger of the 

 Termites and the cause of their extraordinary destructiveness 

 became clear to me. Just as the species of Atta in South America 

 occasion great damage to the leaves of living plants in that they 

 employ their substance for their fungus plantations, so the 



* The term truffle is used in the translation as an alternative term for fungus 

 cake. 



