COMMENCEMENT OF NEST. 39 



various casualties that assail them, are found by 

 labourers, (termites,) which, at this season, are run- 

 ning continually on the surface of the ground, on the 

 watch for them. As soon as they discover the ob- 

 jects of their search, they begin to protect them from 

 their surrounding enemies, by enclosing them in a 

 small chamber of clay ; where they become the pa- 

 rents of a new community, and are distinguished from 

 the other inhabitants of the nest by the title of king 

 and queen. Instinct is the principle which directs the 

 attention of these labouring insects to the preserva- 

 tion of their race, in the protection of this pair and 

 their offspring. The chamber that forms the rudi- 

 ment of a new nest, is contrived for their safety, but 

 the entrances to it are too small to admit of their ever 

 leaving it ; consequently, the charge of the eggs de- 

 volves upon the labourers, who construct nurseries for 

 their reception. These are small, irregularly-shaped 

 chambers, placed, at first, round the apartment of the 

 king and queen, and not exceeding the size of a hazel- 

 nut ; but, in nests of long standing, they are of far 

 gi-eater magnitude, and distributed at a greater dis- 

 tance. These receptacles for hatching the young are 

 all composed of wooden materials, apparently joined 

 together with gum, and, by way of defence, cased 

 with clay. The chamber that contains the king and 

 queen is nearly on a level with the surface of the 



