STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



Bayeiye chief. Wishing to show the chief the superiority of 

 European cookery, Mr. Anderson spread some apricot jam on 

 bread, and offered it to him. The chief took it, and expressed 

 himself much pleased with it, but asserted that Termites were 

 much superior in flavour. In order to catch the Termites in 

 sufficient numbers, the native makes a hole in the nest, and 

 when the workers are congregated for the purpose of repairing 

 the breach, he sweeps them into a vessel, and repeats the opera- 

 tion until he has obtained as many as he wants. 



As is the case with the true ants, the Termites only retain 

 their wings for a limited period, using them for the purpose of 

 escaping from the nest, and snapping them off as soon as they 

 have met with a partner. The manner in which the wings are 

 fixed to the body is the same in both groups of insects, and 

 these singular organs are shed by being bent sharply for- 

 wards. If a living Termite be caught, and its wings pressed 

 forward with a pin, they will instantly snap off; but if bent 

 backwards, a piece of the body will be torn away before the 

 wings can be removed. 



As to the Termites of Southern America, much information 

 may be obtained from Mr. Bates's valuable work on the natural 

 history of the Amazons. As many of his remarks simply prove 

 the identity of habits between the Termites of the old world and 

 those of the new, I shall say nothing about them, but merely 

 give a brief abstract of his observations. 



As with the species which have already been described, the 

 soldiers are the only individuals that fight. When, therefore, 

 the ant-bear tears down the walls of the nest and begins to lick 

 up the inmates, none but the soldiers are killed, they having 

 come out to fight the enemy, while the workers have all run 

 away and hidden themselves underground. In consequence of 

 this fact, the economy of the nest is but slightly disturbed, and 

 after the ant-bear has gone away, the workers begin to raise 

 their walls afresh. 



It must be remembered that the nests of the Termite are not 

 confined to the surface, but extend to a considerable distance 



