100 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [ FEB. 4, 
so I can make observations with more ease and comfort. I also 
saw a boy wheeling away in a barrow the owtside of a new wash- 
stand, the inside destroyed by Hutermes. This could be seen at 
a glance from my window, a couple of rods away. It is a com- 
mon thing for them to attack washstands and bureaus in houses 
here, especially if made of ash. This reminds me of your ques- 
tion, ‘‘ Have you many cars destroyed by ants?” I have only 
seen the one mentioned, and that had lain on a side-track for 
several months. As a rule, our cars do not stand still long 
enough for their work to commence. We had a Cook locomo- 
tive belonging to the Canal Co. sent to our shop some time ago, 
that had been standing out of use in one of their sheds for sev- 
eral months, with the wood-work attacked by Hutermes. 
I have just had the pleasure of showing my wife the Hutermes 
repairing their galleries on her plant-box. With the lens she 
saw them set the grains, then turn around to spread the mortar. 
I also found their track or tunnel from one corner of the box 
under the soil for an inch or two from the side of the box, and 
some little depth below. I think their tracks are constructed 
with fine grains of sand or particles of soil, in combination with 
their secretions; but their nests are made of finer and more 
durable material, as the fine cuttings of wood, perhaps partly 
digested, and their secretions. Their nests are delicately con- 
structed and the surfaces smoothly finished. . . . 
In order to make more exact observations of my pets, I have 
established two ‘‘'Termitariums” (name original), portable, in 
which I have very conveniently watched them hour after hour, 
in mute admiration of their skilful work. 
I procured two telegraph-jars from the battery-room, and 
with these formed my Termitariums. The first nest of Termes 
testaceus I. was put in the jar a week ago and is working well; 
this was taken from my office window when the new frame was 
putin. We had quite a “picnic” at that time; I never saw so 
many ants before. The winged ones swarmed in such numbers 
as to fill my office; the floor, desk, and outside were alive with 
them. The swallows or martins soon found them and had a 
feast. The carpenters were covered with them and badly bitten 
by the soldiers. I picked up winged ones by the handful, and 
also workers and soldiers, for yourself and Dr. Hagen, and am 
thus certain that they all came from the same nest. I could 
not find the queen, though I hunted for her long and carefully. 
The second Termitarium was formed on May 20th, 1888, from 
the Hutermes nest under my observation fora long time. These 
are the most interesting, active, and intelligent of any of the 
three varieties of which I have sent you samples. I formed the 
Termitarium in this manner: First a half-inch layer of damp 
