390 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



nest made, and the young brought into the world. Surely it is 

 no wonder that mice are so plentiful, or that their many enemies 

 fail to exterminate them. 



A GENERAL account of the Termites, or White Ants as 

 they are popularly but erroneously called, has been given under 

 the head of Building Insects, and it has been mentioned that 

 the female, or queen, has a cell distinct from the habitation of 

 her subjects, and that she never leaves it until her death. In 

 order that the reader should understand more fully the 

 structure of the royal cell, an illustration of it is here intro- 

 duced. 



When viewed from the outside, it would hardly be recognised 

 for the habitation of an insect, for it looks like a large lump of 

 hardened clay, about as large as an ordinary French roll, and 

 not very unlike it in shape. On a closer inspection, a number 

 of little holes may be seen, and these apertures afford an un- 

 failing indication as to the real nature of the clay lump. Fig. 2 

 represents the external appearance of one of these cells. 



Supposing that a queen Termite cell be cut vertically, so that 

 the knife passes through either of the little round holes, it will 

 present an appearance which is shown at Fig. i. The large 

 hollow of the cell is nearly filled by the body of the female, 

 whose head and thorax are seen in the cavity. On either side 

 is a section of the little holes, which are shown to be cylin- 

 drical passages communicating with the interior of the cell. 

 The worker Termites, being very small, can traverse these 

 passages with perfect ease, while the enormous body of the 

 female is utterly unable to pass. 



Through these passages the workers are continually passing, 

 some entering with empty jaws, and others emerging, each 

 holding between its mandibles an egg, which it is conveying to 

 the nurseries. So rapidly are the eggs laid, that the workers 

 are fully employed in carrying them out and placing them 

 under the charge of the nurses. 



The contrast in size between the workers and the queen can 

 easily be seen by reference to the illustration. At Fig. 5 is 



