368 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



visible outlet to a Termite's nest, because the insects construct 

 long galleries through which they can pass without suffering in- 

 convenience from the light of day. Both the workers and sol- 

 diers are blind ; but, in spite of the absence of external visual or- 

 gans, they are very sensitive to light, and avoid it in every possi- 

 ble way. 



The food of the Termite is of a vegetable character, and consists 

 mostly of wooden fibres. Tbey will, however, eat through almost 

 any thing, and the traveler in hot climates finds them among his 

 worst troubles. They will cut to pieces the mat on which a man 

 is lying. They will eat nearly all the wood of his strong-box, 

 leaving a mere shell no thicker than the paper on which this 

 account is printed. They will devour all his collection of plants, 

 beasts, birds, and insects; and a table or any other article of fur- 

 niture, if left too long in one position, will be utterly ruined by 

 the Termites, which have a fashion of eating away all the interior, 

 but leaving just a thin shell, which looks as if nothing were the 

 matter. 



Extirpating them is a difficult task. It is true that, if the mats, 

 clothes, and other household goods are washed with a solution of 

 corrosive sublimate, the Termites will not touch them ; but as the 

 articles which can be thus protected are* necessarily few in num- 

 ber, the best method is to extirpate them. This can only be done 

 by going to the fountain-head and cutting off the supply. It is 

 useless to destroy the workers or soldiers, for they are replaced as 

 fast as killed ; but, if the queen be destroyed, the supply of eggs is 

 at once stopped, the subjects lose heart, and the colony dies off. 



When the adult Termites leave their homes, they often fly in 

 such clouds that they fill the rooms, and even put out the lamps 

 by their numbers. As soon as they touch ground they shed their 

 wings, and then they begin to find how many enemies they have. 

 Of the myriad hosts that pour into the evening air, not one in 

 twenty thousand survives to found a new colony. They have 

 foes above, below, and on every side. The bats and goatsuckers 

 hold high festival on these evenings when the Termites are abroad, 

 and after the insects have cast their wings they are pursued by 

 ants, toads, spiders, and a host of other enemies. 



"We will now pass to the European Termites, whose history is 

 elaborately given by M. de Quatrefages. Eochefort, Saintes, and 

 Tournay-Charente have for some years suffered from the ravages 



