INSECT INTRUDERS. 



by these pernicious pests. It was a 

 wonderful sight. The front which con- 

 sisted of most beautiful carving was 

 now a mere match-board shell which 

 crumbled to pieces on being touched at 

 all hard. The whole of the wood at the 

 back had been destroyed by the termites, 

 and this in the space of a few months. 

 This is but a sample of what one may 

 expect from these pests, and it is difficult 

 to say what sort of wall short of a solid 

 steel one will resist their stealthy attacks 

 for any length of time. At any rate, the 

 problem seems to have defied solution 

 by the entire staff of the Great Indian 

 Public Works Department. 



The life history of the white ant is 

 pretty well known. The insects build 

 those large earthen mounds found out in 

 the compound or in neighbouring waste 

 areas, or construct nests in the mud walls 

 of our bungalows, ruining a large portion 

 of the interior of the walls in doing so. It 

 is not from these nests and tunnels in 

 28 



