TERN TETRAMERA. 



are in the most violent bustle and agitation ; while 

 some are employed in beating with their mandibles 

 upon the building, so as to make a noise which may 

 be heard at three or four feet distance. On ceasing 

 to disturb them, the soldiers retire, and are followed 

 by the labourers, who hasten in various directions 

 towards the breach, each with a burden of mortar in 

 its mouth ready tempered. Though there are mil- 

 lions of them, they never stop nor embarrass each 

 other, and a wall gradually arises which fills up the 

 chasm. A soldier attends every 600 or 1000 of the 

 labourers, seemingly as a director of the works, for 

 he never even touches the mortar. One in particu- 

 lar places himself close to the wall which they are 

 repairing, and frequently makes the noise above 

 mentioned, which is constantly answered by a loud 

 hiss from all the labourers within the dome, and at 

 every such signal they immediately redouble their 

 pace, and work as fast again. The obstinacy of 

 these soldiers is remarkable ; they fight to the very 

 last, disputing every inch of ground so well as often 

 to drive away the negroes, who are without shoes, 

 making even the white people bleed profusely 

 through their stockings. 



It is of course impossible for us to enter into the 

 numerous details of the economy of these insects 

 recorded by Smeathman, Konig, and others. Our 

 sketch, though slight, has comprised the most mate- 

 rial points in their very peculiar economy ; but we 

 cannot close this article without quoting Mr. Smeath- 

 man's admirable observations upon the general effects 

 in the economy of nature at large of the presence of 

 these and other similarly obnoxious creatures. They 

 are the observations of a true naturalist, who had 

 had ample opportunities of seeing and judging of their 

 action. 



" It may appear surprising how a Being perfectly 

 good should have created animals which seem to 

 serve no other end but to spread destruction and 

 desolation wherever they go. But let us be cautious 

 in suspecting any imperfection in the Father of the 

 universe. What at first sight may seem only pro- 

 ductive of mischief, will, upon mature deliberation, 

 be found worthy of that wisdom which planned the 

 most beautiful parts of the world. Many poisons 

 are valuable medicines the storms are beneficial 

 arid diseases often promote life. These Termites are 

 indeed frequently pernicious to mankind, but they 

 are also very useful, and even necessary. One 

 valuable purpose which they serve is to destroy 

 decayed trees and other substances, which, if left on 

 the surface of the ground in hot climates, would in a 

 short time pollute the air. In this respect they 

 resemble very much the common flies, which are 

 regarded by mankind in general as noxious, and at 

 best as useless beings in the creation. But this 

 is certainly for want of consideration. There are 

 not probably in all nature animals of more import- 

 ance ; and it would not be difficult to prove that we 

 should feel the want of one or two species of large 

 quadrupeds much less than of one or two species of 

 these despicable-looking insects. Mankind in general 

 are sensible that nothing is more disagreeable or 

 more pestiferous than putrid substances ; and it is 

 apparent to all who have made observation that 

 those little insects contribute more to the quick 

 dissolution and dispersion of putrescent matter than 

 any other. They are so necessary in all hot climates, 

 that, even in the open fields, a dead animal, or small 



791 



putrid substance, cannot be laid upon the ground two 

 minutes before it will be covered with flies and their 

 maggots, which, instantly entering, quickly devour 

 one part, and, perforating the rest in various direc- 

 tions, expose the whole to be much sooner dissipated 

 by the elements. Thus it is with the Termites. The 

 rapid vegetation in hot climate*, of which no idea 

 can be formed by anything to be seen in this, is 

 equalled by as great a degree of destruction from 

 natural as well as accidental causes. It seems appa- 

 rent, that when anything whatever has arrived at its 

 last degree of perfection, the Creator has decreed 

 that it shall be totally destroyed as soon as possible, 

 that the force of nature may be speedily adorned 

 with fresh productions in the bloom of spring or the 

 pride of summer ; so, when trees, and even woods, 

 are in part destroyed by tornadoes or fire, it is won- 

 derful to observe how many agents are employed in 

 hastening the total dissolution of the rest. 15ut in 

 the hot climates there are none so expert, or who do 

 their business so expeditiously and effectually, as 

 these insects, which, in a few weeks, destroy and 

 carry away the bodies of large trees, without leaving 

 a particle behind ; thus clearing the place for other 

 vegetables, which soon fill up every vacancy ; and in 

 places where, two or three years before, there has 

 been a populous town, if the inhabitants, as is fre- 

 quently the case, have chosen to abandon it, there 

 shall be a very thick wood, and not the vestige of a 

 post to be seen, Unless the wood has been of a species 

 which, from its hardiness, is called iron-wood." 



TERN. See STERNA. 



TBRNSTRJEMIACE^E. A small natural order, 

 comprising eleven genera and nineteen species ; small 

 as it is.it consists of five tribes, namely, Terristr&miacee, 

 Frczicreae, Sauraujete, Laplacccs, and Gordonices. The 

 plants associated here are all trees or shrubs, bearing 

 handsome white or yellowish flowers ; they are nearly 

 related to Camcllieee, from which they do not differ at 

 all in habit. The greater number have a place in 

 botanical collections, and are propagated by cuttings, 

 layers, or grafting. 



TESTUDINARIA (Burchell). A curious ge- 

 nus of African plants, bearing small dio3cious flowers, 

 and belonging to the natural order Dioscoraccce. This 

 is the elephant's-foot of travellers, so called from its 

 large tuberous stem, resting on the surface of the 

 ground, sending up annually a number of slender 

 twining stems, and a fringe of fibrous roots down- 

 ward. Young plants are imported from the Cape. 



TETRAGONIA(Linrifeus). A genus of herbs 

 and undershrubs, chiefly natives of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. The flowers are icosandrous, and being of a 

 succulent habit belong to the natural order Ficuidecs. 

 Like other succulents they are easy of propagation. 

 One of the annual species is the T. expansa, or New 

 Zealand spinach, a culinary vegetable lately intro- 

 duced into our kitchen gardens. 



TETRAMERA (Latreille). One of the primary 

 divisions into which the coleoptera are arranged by 

 the French authors, distinguished by having appa- 

 rently only four joints in all the tarsi, but in reality 

 having a fifth minute joint interposed between the 

 last and the preceding joint, being often hidden 

 between the lobes of the latter. The subsections 

 belonging to this section are the Jthyncophora (types, 

 Bruchus, Attelabus, and Ciircit/io, Linnaeus) ; ~Xylo- 

 phaga (type, Scolytus, Geoffroy) ; Longicornes (types, 

 Ccrambyx and Leptura, Linnaeus) ; and Cyclica(tyipe 



