488 THE TERMITES 



The queen, thus developed aud for ever fixed in her home, is truly the mother of her 

 subjects, producing nearly eighty thousand eggs in twenty-four hours. The eggs are 

 carried off by the workers as soon as laid, and conveyed to suitable places in the nest, 

 where they are guarded until they are hatched, and are then fed and watched until they 

 have passed through their preliminary stages of existence. 



The great bulk of a Termite establishment is composed of workers, who outnumber 

 the soldiers in the proportion of a hundred to one. By the mysterious instinct which i& 

 implanted in these insects, the soldiers and workers confine themselves to their respective 

 occupation, the former doing nothing but fight and the latter nothing but labour. 



The untiring energy and wonderful skill of the labourers are evident by the structures 

 which* they raise ; and the courage of the soldiers is quite as remarkable in its way. 

 These born gladiators seem to exult in war, and no matter what may be the size of the 

 assailant, they hurry to the attack with reckless fury, biting fiercely with their sharp 

 jaws ; and when once they have taken hold of anything that they fancy to be inimical to 

 them, retain their grasp with the proverbial tenacity of the bulldog. They may be pulled 

 to pieces without loosening their hold, and the body may be dragged away, leaving the 

 head still affixed by the jaws. The bare-limbed negro is soon forced to quit the field, for 

 although the Termite cannot sting, it can draw, at least, its own weight of blood ; and even 

 the fully clad European will bear gory proofs of its prowess. 



There are many species of Termite, and all are fearfully destructive, being, indeed, the 

 greatest pest of the country wherein they reside. Nothing, unless cased in metal, can 

 resist their jaws ; and they have been known to destroy the whole woodwork of a house 

 in a single season. They always work in darkness, and at all expenditure of labour keep 

 themselves under cover, so that their destructive labours are often completed before the 

 least intimation has been given. For example, the Termites will bore through the boards 

 of a floor, drive their tunnels up the legs of the tables or chairs, and consume everything 

 but a mere shell no thicker than paper, and yet leave everything apparently in a perfect 

 condition. Many a person has only learned the real state of his furniture by finding a 

 chair crumble into dust as he sat upon it, or a whole staircase fall to pieces as soon as a 

 foot was set upon it. In some cases the Termite lines its galleries with clay, which soon 

 becomes as hard as stone, and thereby produces very remarkable architectural changes. 

 For example, it has been found that a row of wooden columns in front of a house have 

 been converted into stone pillars by these insects. 



The greater number of species belong to the tropical regions, where they are useful in 

 destroying the fallen trees that are so plentiful in those latitudes, and which, unless 

 speedily removed, might be injurious to the young saplings by which they are replaced. 

 Two species, however, are known in Europe, namely, Termes luclfugus and Termes 

 ruficollis, and have fully carried out their destructive character; the former species 

 devouring oaks and firs, and the latter preferring olives and similar trees. At La Rochelle, 

 these insects have multiplied so greatly as to demand the public attention. 



M. de Quatrefages, who visited one of the spots in which these destructive insects had 

 settled themselves, gives the following account of their devastating energy : " The 

 Prefecture and a few neighbouring 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 or forty-eight hours. The fences put 

 round the young trees are gnawed from the bottom, while the trees themselves are gutted 

 to the very branches. 



Within the building itself, the apartments and offices are all alike invaded. I saw, 

 upon the roof of a bedroom that had been lately repaired, galleries made by the Termites 

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

 after the workmen left the place. In the cellars I found similar galleries, which were 

 either 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 galleries 

 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 



