TERMITES (WHITE ANTS). 



bonded stores at Wyndham, Western Australia, the metal capsules of wine and beer 

 bottles have been perforated by White Ant agency, the corks destroyed and the 

 liquid wasted. Where the covered passages of the Termites passed over the 

 surfaces of the bottles it was observed by Mr. Hare that the surface was distinctly 

 eroded as though it had been brought in contact with a revolving emery-wheel. 



This phenomenon of the erosion of glass by the excretions of the Termites goes 

 far towards the explanation of the remarkably indurated character of the termitaria 

 of the majority of the mound-constructing species. As recorded further on, the 

 food chambers of these termitaria are almost invariably found filled with short 

 lengths of dried grasses, which apparently constitutes the main diet of these 

 species. Those internal juices of the Termites, which on excretion erode a glass 

 surface, are, it may be anticipated, capable of dissolving the silica contained so 

 abundantly in the substance of the grass stalks eaten, and are, in a soluble state, 

 ejected and mingled, as a temper, with the earthy material that constitutes the bulk 

 of the hillocks. 



The corrosive action of the fluid secretions of the Termites, as observed with 

 reference to glass, is manifested in a yet more marked degree when the softer 

 metals, such as tin and lead, are attacked. The circumstance of the metal capsules 

 of wine bottles being perforated by these insects, apparently with the direct object 

 of reaching and devouring the woody substance of the corks, has been already 

 referred to. Instances fell within the author's observation at Port Darwin, in 

 the Northern Territory of South Australia, in which lead sheeting, of considerable 

 thickness, had been perforated by White Ants in order to enable them to gain 

 access to a supply of coveted wood that lay beyond. To guard against White 

 Ant depredations, the houses throughout tropical Australia, and in Queensland, even 

 so far south as Brisbane, are to a large extent isolated on hard-wood or brick 

 and cement pillars, having zinc or other metal cappings to prevent the Termites' 

 ingress. Where these pillars are of wood a constant watch has to be kept to check 

 the earliest indications of the insects' advent. 



Should these precautions be neglected and the house perhaps be left tenantless 

 for a few months' interval, the owner may on his return make a most unwelcome 

 discovery. A clay-covered gallery half an inch or so in width up one of the 

 supporting pillars is the only outward and visible sign of the enemy's presence. 

 Appearances inside may at first sight be even less conspicuously premonitory of the 

 ruin that has been accomplished. Stepping into the first room, however, the foot 



