THE TERMITE, OR WHITE ANT. 



in the earth, the subterranean galleries being proportionately 

 large to the superimposed nest. Indeed, the greater part of the 

 material with which the walls and galleries are built is brought 

 from below and carried upwards through the nest itself There 

 is no visible outlet to a Termite's nest, because the insects 

 construct long galleries through which they can pass without 

 suffering inconvenience from the light of day. Both the workers 

 and soldiers are blind ; but, in spite of the absence of external 

 visual organs, they are very sensitive to light, and avoid it in 

 every possible way. 



The food of the Termite is of a vegetable character, and 

 consists mostly of wooden fibres. They will, however, eat 

 through almost anything, and the traveller in hot climates finds 

 them among his worst troubles. They will cut to pieces the 

 mat on which a man is lying. They will eat nearly all the 

 wood of his strong box, leaving a mere shell no thicker 

 than the paper on which this account is printed. They will 

 devour all his collection of plants, beasts, birds and insects ; 

 and a table or any other article of furniture, if left too long 

 in one position, will be utterly ruined by the Termites, 

 which have a fashion of eating away all the interior, but 

 leaving just a thin shell, which looks as if nothing were the 

 matter. 



When the adult Termites leave their homes, they often fly in 

 such clouds that they fill the rooms, and even put out the lamps 

 by their numbers. As soon as they touch ground they shed 

 their wings, and then they begin to find how many enemies 

 they have. Of the myriad hosts that pour into the evening air, 

 not one in twenty thousand survives to found a new colony. 

 They have foes above, below, and on every side. The bats 

 and goatsuckers hold high festival on these evenings when the 

 Termites are abroad, and after the insects have cast their wings 

 they are pursued by ants, toads, spiders, and a host of other 

 enemies. 



We will now pass to the European Termites, whose history 

 is elaborately given by M. de Quatrefages. Rochefort, Saintes, 



