INSECT COMMUNITIES 307 



deposited, and the head is withdrawn. Presently it re- 

 appears with another grain of earth ; this is laid beside 

 the first, rammed tight against it, and again the builder 

 descends under ground for more. The third grain is not 

 placed against the tree, but against the former grain ; a 

 fourth, a fifth, and a sixth follow, and the plan of the 

 foundation begins to suggest itself as soon as these are in 

 position. The stones, or grains, or pellets of earth are 

 arranged in a semicircular wall, the termite, now assisted 

 by three or four others, standing in the middle between 

 the sheltering wall and the tree, and working briskly with 

 head and mandibles to strengthen the position. The wall, 

 in fact, forms a small moon-rampart, and as it grows 

 higher and higher, it soon becomes evident that it is 

 going to grow from a low battlement into a long perpen- 

 dicular tunnel, running up the side of the tree." The 

 building material employed by termites may be either 

 earth or wood, very finely triturated, and mixed with 

 cement-like secretions from the insects' mouths. When 

 this composition solidifies, it attains such an astonishing 

 hardness that the large termitariums can only be opened 

 by means of gunpowder and dynamite. 



So far as is known, the internal arrangements are 

 similar in all large nests. The royal apartment occupies 

 a central position, and is surrounded by a series of con- 

 centric shells, each containing many chambers. Most of 

 the domed nests are divided into several stories, and are 

 connected with underground galleries, which often extend 

 to a distance of several hundred feet. The wood, and 

 possibly the earth, that is employed for building purposes 

 appears always to be swallow T ed before being used — a pro- 

 cedure which ensures thorough grinding and amalgama- 

 tion, as well as the extraction of any contained nutriment. 

 Termites are frugal to a fault. Not only do they subject 



