VOL. LXXI.J PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 63 



of more importance, and it would not be difficult to prove, that we should feel 

 the want of one or two species of large quadrupeds, much less than of one or two 

 species of these despicable looking insects. Mankind in general are sensible that 

 nothing is more disagreeable, or more pestiferous, than putrid substances; and 

 it is apparent to all who have made observation, that those little insects contribute 

 more to the quick dissolution and dispersion of putrescent matter than any other. 

 They are so necessary in all hot climates, that even in the open fields a dead ani- 

 mal or small putrid substance cannot be laid on the ground 2 minutes before it 

 will be covered with flies and their maggots, which instantly entering quickly 

 devour one part, and perforating the rest in various directions, expose the whole 

 to be much sooner dissipated by the elements. Thus it is with the termites; 

 the rapid vegetation in hot climates, of which no idea can be formed by any thing 

 to be seen in this, is equalled by as great a degree of destruction from natural as 

 well as accidental causes.* It seems, that when any thing whatever is arrived at 

 its last degree of perfection, the Creator has decreed it shall be totally destroyed 

 as soon as possible, that the face of nature may be speedily adorned with fresh 

 productions in the bloom of spring or the pride of summer: so when trees, and 

 even woods, are in part destroyed by tornados or fire, it is wonderful to observe, 

 how many agents are employed in hastening the total dissolution of the rest; 

 but in the hot climates there are none so expert, or who do their business so ex- 

 peditiously and effectually, as these insects, which in a few weeks destroy and 

 carry away the bodies of large trees, without leaving a particle behind, thus 

 clearing the place for other vegetables, which soon fill up every vacancy ; and in 

 places, where 2 or 3 years before there has been a populous town, if the inha- 

 bitants, as is frequently the case, have chosen to abandon it, there shall be a very 

 thick wood, and not the vestige of a post to be seen, unless the wood has been 

 of a species which, from its hardness, is called iron wood. 



The nests of this species, the termes bellicosus, are so numerous all over the 

 island of Bananas, and the adjacent continent of Africa, that it is scarcely pos- 

 sible to stand on any open place, such as a rice plantation, or other clear spot, 

 where one of these buildings is not to be seen within 50 paces, and frequently 2 

 or 3 are to be seen almost close to each other. In some parts near Senegal, as 

 mentioned by Mons. Adanson, their number, magnitude, and closeness of situa- 

 tion, make them appear like the villages of the natives. These buildings are 

 usually termed hills, by natives as well as strangers, from their outward appear- 

 ance, which is that of little hills more or less conical, generally pretty much in 

 the form of sugar loaves, and about 10 or 12 feet in perpendicular height above 



* The Guinea grass, which is so well known and so much esteemed by our planters in the West 

 Indies, grows in Africa 13 feet high on an average, which height it attains in about 5 or 6 months; 

 and the growth of many other plants is as quick. — Orig. 



