228 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Smeathruan's account of white ants. 



they crowded to it in such astonishing numbers 

 as soon to extinguish it, although with the de- 

 struction of thousands. Holes were therefore 

 dug at proper distances, and a fire made in each 

 of them. Nevertheless the ants appeared again 

 as numerous as ever. 



At length, this calamity, which resisted so 

 long the efforts of the planters, was removed by 

 another, the hurricane in 1780, which, however 

 ruinous to the other islands in the West Indies, 

 and in other respects, was to Grenada a very 

 great blessing. Without this it is probable that 

 the cultivation of the sugar cane in the most va- 

 luable parts of that island must have, if not en- 

 tirely, been at least, for some time, neglected. 



The white ants are found in the East Indies, 

 and in many parts of Africa, and South America, 

 where their depredations are greatly dreaded by 

 the inhabitants. Mr. Smeathman (Philosophi- 

 cal Transactions) says, that they are naturally di- 

 vided into three orders: ], The working insects, 

 which he distinguishes by the name of labourers; 

 2, The fighters or soldiers, which perform no 

 other labour than such as is necessary in defence 

 of the nests; and, 3, The winged or perfect in- 

 sects, which are male and female, and capable of 

 multiplying the species. These last he calls the 

 nobility or gentry ; because they neither labour 

 nor fight. 



" In their nest or hill, for they build on the 

 surface of the ground, the labourers are always 



