286 ANTS AND TERMITES 



This incessant extrusion of eggs necessarily calls for the at- 

 tention of a large number of the workers in the royal chamber, 

 to take them as they come forth, and carry them to the nurse- 

 ries, in which, when hatched, they are provided with food, and 

 carefully attended till they are able to shift for themselves, and 

 become in their turn useful to the community. 



In widening their buildings according to the necessities of 

 their growing population, from the size of small sugar-loaves to 

 that of domes which might be mistaken for the hovels of Indians 

 or negroes, as well as in repairing their damages, the termite 

 workers display an unceasing and wonderful activity ; while the 

 soldiers, or neuters, which are in the proportion of about one to 

 every hundred labourers, and are at once distin- 

 guished by the enormous size of their heads, 

 armed with long and sharp jaws, are no less 

 remarkable for their courage and energy. 



When any one is bold enough to attack their 

 Soldier ^^^^ ^^^ make a breach in its walls, the labourers, 

 who are incapable of fighting, immediately retire, 

 upon which a soldier makes his appearance, obviously for the 

 purpose of reconnoitring, and then also withdraws to give 

 the alarm. Two or three others next appear, scrambling as 

 fast as they can one after the other ; to these succeed a 

 large body, who rush forth with as much speed as the breach 

 will permit, their numbers continually increasing during the 

 attack. These little heroes present an astonishing, and at 

 the same time a most amusing spectacle. In their haste 

 they frequently miss their hold, and tumble down the sides of 

 their hill ; they soon, however, recover themselves, and being 

 blind, bite everything they run against. If the attack proceeds, 

 the bustle increases to a tenfold degree, and their fury is raised 

 to its highest pitch. Woe to him whose hands or legs come 

 within their reach, for they will make their fanged jaws meet at 

 the very first stroke, drawing their own weight in blood, and 

 never quitting their hold, even though they are pulled limb 

 from limb. The courage of the bulldog is as nothing com- 

 pared to the fierce obstinacy of the termite-soldier. 



So soon as the injury has ceased, and no further interruption 

 is given, the soldiers retire, and then you will see the labourers 

 hastening in various directions towards the breach, each carrying 



