364 tHE PHILOSOPHY 



ous liquor of which, Vv'hen introduced into any part of the 

 human body, excites inflammationj and creates a confiderable 

 degree of pain. 



The habitations and the oeconomy of the common ant are 

 exceedingly curious. But, as they are fo well known, and 

 fo obvious to infpe^lion and examination, we fliall not de- 

 tain the reader with a defcription of them. To fupply this 

 defecb, we fliall give fome account of the truly wonderful 

 operations of the termites^ which are generally called ^vhlle- 

 irnts"^, though they belong to a different genus of infecls. 

 Thefe animals infeft Guinea, and all the tropical regions, 

 where, for their depredations of property, they are greatly 

 dreaded by the inhabitants -, from v;hich circumftancc they 

 have received the name of Fatalis or Deflrticlor. 



The following abridged account of the termites^ and^of the 

 wonderful habitations they build, is fele^led from an excel- 

 lent defcription of them in a Letter from Mr. Henry Smeath- 

 man, of Clement's Inn, to Sir Jofeph Banks, which was 

 publifhed in the Philofophical Tranfaftionsf. Though the 

 nefls, or rather hills, conil:ru£led by the termites, are men- 

 tioned by many travellers, their defcriptions and obferva- 

 tions are by no means fo accurate as thofe of the ingenious 

 Mr. Smeathman. Of thefe infedls there are feveral fpecies ; 

 but they all refemble each other in form, and in their man- 

 ner of living. They differ, however, as much as birds, in 

 the ffile of their architecture, and in the feledlion of the ma- 

 terials of which their nefts are compofed. Some build on 

 the furface, or partly above and partly below the ground, 

 and others on the trunks or branches of lofty trees. 



Before defcribing the nefts or hills, it is neceffary to give 

 fome idea of the animals themfelves, and of their general 



* In the windward p:irt3 of Africa, they are denominated bugga, buggs ; in 

 the Weft- Indies, wood lice, wood ants, or white- ants. They are likewife cal- 

 led piercers, eaters, or cutters, becaufe they cut almofl every thing in pieces, • 

 f Vol. 71. part I. page 139, 



