ORIGIN OF CASTES OF TERMITES 85 



HISTORICAL REVIEW 



In this section the work of those writers will be reviewed who 

 consider extrinsic factors — food, care, parasitic influence- 

 as the determining cause, either directly or indirectly, of caste; 

 or who, as in the case of some of the older writers, do not especi- 

 ally consider the question of caste origin. 



The work of Konig (1779) may be regarded as one of the first 

 exact accounts of termite life. A resume of his observations 

 is given in Hagen's monograph ('55-'60). Konig lived for 

 many years in India and made numerous observations upon the 

 termites in his vicinity. He described the nests, the eggs and 

 young, and both the young and the enlarged queens. The 

 workers he erroneously regarded as males. 



Another early account of the biology of termites is found in a 

 letter from Smeathman (1781) to the Royal Society of London. 

 In his travels in Africa Smeathman became well acquainted with 

 termites, and records his observations in a most interesting 

 although somewhat inaccurate manner. He observed three 

 castes of termites: "(1) the labourers, (2) the soldiers, (3) the 

 perfect insects." He described the different kinds of nests, the 

 royal chamber, the enlarged queen, and the habits of the castes. 

 A plate, which is now classic, shows the roj^al cell and its many 

 occupants. Alluding to the small ca\dties containing the young, 

 he says: 



I call them the nurseries because they are invariably occupied by 

 the eggs, and young ones, which appear first in the shape of labourers, 

 but white as snow. 



Between the years 1840 and 1850, a termite, since identified 

 as Leucotermes lucifugus, caused great damage in France, in the 

 villages of the Charente-Inferieure. The anatomy and biology 

 of these termites and the means of preventing their ravages 

 began to be studied by a group of French naturalists, among 

 whom were Du Four ('41), Bobe-Moreau ('43), Joly ('49), 

 BofRnet ('53), Quatrefages ('53), Lespes ('56). The names of 



