THE TERMITE, OR WHITE ANT. 369 



of the Termites, and now La Rochelle is invaded by these terrible 

 destroyers. In all probability they were imported by some ship, 

 taken ashore in the boxes into whieh they had penetrated, and 

 thence spread into the country around. Efforts are being made 

 toward the extirpation of these terrible insects, but nothing seems 

 as yet to have had any great effect. How serious are the damages 

 which they work may be seen from the following account by M. 

 de Quatrefages, in his " Rambles of a Naturalist," vol. ii., p. 346 : 



"The Prefecture and a few neighboring houses are the principal 

 scene of the destructive ravages of the Termites, but here they 

 have taken complete possession of the premises. In the garden, 

 not a stake can be put into the- ground, and not a plank can be 

 left on the beds, without being attacked within twenty-four hours. 

 The fences put round the young trees are gnawed from the bot- 

 tom, while the trees themselves are gutted to the very branches. 



"Within the building itself, the apartments and offices are alike 

 invaded. I saw upon the roof of a bedroom that had been re- 

 cently repaired, galleries made by the Termites which looked like 

 stalactites, and which had begun to show themselves the very day 

 after the workmen had left the place. In the cellars I discovered 

 similar galleries, which were within half-way between the ceiling 

 and the floor, or running along the walls and extending no doubt 

 up to the very garrets ; for on the principal staircase other gal- 

 leries were observed between the ground floor and the second 

 floor, passing under the plaster wherever it was sufficiently thick 

 for the purpose, and only coming to view at different points where 

 the stones were on the surface ; for, like other species, the Termites 

 of La Eochelle always work under cover, wherever it is possible 

 for them to do so. 



"MM. Milne-Edwards and Blanchard have seen galleries which 

 descended without any extraneous support from the ceiling to the 

 floor of a cellar. M. Bobe-Moreau cites several curious instances 

 of this mode of construction. Thus, for instance, he saw isolated 

 galleries or arcades, which were thrown horizontally forward like 

 a tubular bridge, in order to reach a piece of paper that was wrap- 

 ped round a bottle, the contents of a pot of honey, etc. 



" It is generally only by incessant vigilance that we can trace 

 the course of their devastations and prevent their ravages. At 

 the time of M. Audoin's visit a curious proof was accidentally 

 obtained of the mischief which this insect silently accomplishes. 

 One day it was discovered that the archives of the Department 



Aa 



