GEOLOGIC WORK OF ANTS — BRAN NEE. 



325 



big nests it is sometimes nearly or quite a foot thick. Inside of this 

 hard, thick covering the materials are quite soft and brittle, and the 

 partitions are sometimes almost as thin as paper, though thicker in 

 the larger nests. Where the mound stands on the ground, the cavi- 



Fig. 6.— Mound of termites or white ants, State of Minas Geraes, Brazil. 

 [From a photograph by R. Crandall, July, 1909.] 



ties of the upper portion connect through the perforated base -with 

 subterranean excavations. 



Parts of the nests are made of the excrement of the inhabitants. 

 I have often broken the nests or the covered roads of these insects 



