a se 
9: Proceedings of Indicna Academy of Science. 
Sm 
he first, or lower flocr has three large cvoms which are used for book 
storage, as well as a boiler room, a general storage room Es bene pee 
ing room. The upper floor is used for a reading and Poe CEE stack room. 
Originally the floor in the basement was yellow pine laid on joists Oe: 
bedded in the ground so that the floor itself rested on the ground. eats 
wise, the lower edge of the baseboards and the bottoms of the door sills 
rested on the ground. There was a wooden wainscoating, about four feet 
high, around the room. The bottom of this wainscoating rested on the 
sreund. Four years ago this floor and wainscoating were removed because 
tics had “rotted”, and there is litt'e doubt that the “rotting” was caused 
by termites. 
As is shown in the diagrammatic drawing. Figure I. B.. the wooden floor 
was replaced by one of cement and a p'aster wainscoating laid on patented 
steel wire lath was used instead of the wooden one. Had the work been 
done right at that time no frrther termite injury would have been possible. 
3ut instead of eliminating all wood in contact with the ground and bring- 
ing the cement floor flush with the plaster wainscoating, unfortunately. as is 
shown in the drawing, both the bottoms of the baseboards and door sills 
were left in contact with the ground instead of allowing: them to rest on the 
cement floor. Further, the plaster wainscoating instead of being flush with 
the stone walls of the building is supported by yellow pine beams in con- 
tact with the ground. Some of these beams come in contact with the 
casings of the windows of the first floor and all of them are in contact with 
a yellow pine molding that tops the wainscoating four feet from the floor. 
Of course, the baseboards and door sills were badly damaged (See Plates 
I and II). By means of the joists supporting the wainscoating as well as 
the characteristic “covered runways” on the back of the wainscoating the 
termites had worked into the molding and from it into the pictures and 
their frames. The bottems of the wooden bookracks were either in contact 
with the infested baseboards or their backs were in contact with the 
infested molding and it was an easy matter for the termites to work into 
them and from racks into the books. 
All the foregoing exampies of termite injury were the work of R. flavipes 
Kollar and are based on specimens obtained in each case. In order to 
identify termites it is necessary that either soldiers or winged adults be 
obtained. 
Nothing is known of the economic importance of PR. virginicus Banks in 
Indiana though in other parts of the United States where it ocurs its dam- 
age is similar to that of R. flavipes. 
Numerous cases of termite injury to fence posts and boards have been ob- 
served and doubtless much of the “rotting” of timber is due to these insects. 
Several cases of termite injury to living plants were reported during the 
past year. But in only one case were specimens obtained. The first case 
was reported by an Indianapolis florist who advised the writer that in 1919 
he was forced to replant a bed of geraniums three times because termites 
tunnelled each planting within a few weeks after it was set out. 
The second report of damage to living plants was reported by Mr. Frank 
N. Wallace, State Entomologist, on May 15th from Spencer. Indiana. He 
obtained the workers from a cavity in a living maple tree and observed that 
tunnels were being made into the living wood. 
