4 
moistened, or into furniture, books, or papers stored in rooms which 
are at all moist. Their food is the finely divided material into which 
they bore, and from which they seem able to extract a certain amount 
of nourishment, probably front the molds and ferments generated in the 
moistened vegetable substance, since they redevour the same material 
several times. Bearing out this theory, tropical species are known to 
grow mushroom beds artificially on the product of which they largely 
subsist. The white ants are also somewhat cannibalistic, and will 
devour the superfluous members of the colony without compunction, 
and they normally consume all dead individuals, cast skins, and other 
refuse material. They are capable also of exuding a sort of nectar, 
which is used to feed the young and the royal pair, and which they 
also generously give to one another. 
All except the migrating winged forms are incapable of enduring full 
sunlight, and the soft, delicate bodies of the workers, soldiers, and 
young rapidly shrivel when exposed. In all their operations, therefore, 
they carefully conceal themselves, and in their mining of timbers or 
books and papers the surface is always left intact ; whenever it is neces- 
sary for them to extend their colonies it 1s done only under the protection 
of covered runways, which they construct of particles of comminuted 
wood or little pellets of excrement. In this way the damage which they 
are doing is often entirely hidden, and not until furniture breaks down 
or the underpinning. and timbers of houses or floors yield is the injury 
recognized. The swarming of winged individuals in the early summer, 
if in or about houses, is an indication of their injurious presence and war- 
rants an immediate investigation to prevent serious damage later on. 
The common termite of America is very widespread, occurring from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada southward to the Gulf. 
It has been found on the mountains of Colorado and Washington 
at a height of over 7,000 feet. In prairie regions it may often be seen 
during the swarming season issuing from the ground at frequent 
intervals over large pasture tracts, where it must feed on the roots of 
grass and other herbage. It has also been carried to other countries and 
is a common and often very injurious enemy of buildings and libraries 
in Europe. A closely allied and equally injurious European species 
(Termes lucifugus) has also been brought to this country in exchange 
for ours, but compared with our own species it is somewhat rare though 
already widely distributed. In this country serious damage to build- 
ings from the white ant has not been of common occurrence, especially 
in the North, except in some notable instances. In Europe our species 
has caused greater damage, and some years ago gained access to one of 
the Imperial hothouses at Vienna, and in spite of all efforts to save the 
building it was necessary ultimately to tear it down and replace it with 
an iron structure. In this country instances are on record of very 
serious damage to books and papers. An accumulation of books and 
A6——12 
