THE WHITE ANT 333 



here we perceive that leather is also included ; though the 

 white ant draws the line at green canvas. 



Throughout the African forest one sees trees by the 

 hundred coated or streaked with this grey earthy cement. 

 Every dead tree or fallen bough is certain to be so 

 enveloped and eaten. Hence the wreckage of the 

 forest quickly disappears. But even vigorous living 

 trees frequently display a winding streak of grey mud 

 ascending their boles. For so marvellous is the instinct 

 of the termite for detecting the neighbourhood of dead 

 wood, that he is able to diagnose the existence of 

 decayed branches far overhead ; and to these unerringly 

 leads that covered sap, though the work involves building 

 a tunnel 30 or 40 feet high. It may be that he works 

 on "speculation"? 



In open country, outside the forests, termites practise 

 their veneering arts upon lowly bush and shrub, or even 

 condescend to encase a few blades of dry grass here and 

 there ; the general effect of the earthy encrustation in 

 these latter cases resembling a sort of petrifaction. 



Hence the white ant does properly belong to the 

 "unseen world," for he lives, works, and feeds ever- 

 lastingly under cover, and never sees the light of day ; 

 indeed, as already stated, the termite is stone-blind. He 

 is still "underground" when at the summit of a lofty 

 tree, for he has carried the ground up with him. 



One of the most 'charming of books is Professor 

 Henry Drummond's Tropical Africa, a work replete not 

 only with the true spirit of science but with the dual 

 saving graces that so adorn, if they do not always 

 characterise, treatises on such subjects as these, to wit 

 a lightsome touch of humour, with a solid substratum 

 of common-sense. For biological details regarding not 

 only the "white ant" but a whole host of mimetic insects 

 stories that read IFke romance I would earnestly beg 

 any reader who has felt interested in my own feeble yarn, 

 to refer to that delightful book. It was published more 



