WHITE ANTS. 303 



part of the wood nearest to the bark, which they are 

 careful not to injure, as it affords them protection. 

 All the walls of their galleries are moistened with 

 small globules of a gelatinous substance, similar to 

 gum Arabic. They are chiefly to be found in the 

 trunks of oak and pine trees, and are very numerous.* 



Another of the species ( Termes arborum), described 

 by Smeathman, builds a nest on the exterior of trees, 

 altogether different from any of the preceding. These 

 are of a spherical or oval shape, occupying the arm 

 or branch of a tree sometimes from seventy to eighty 

 feet from the ground, and as large, in a few instances, 

 as a sugar-cask. The composition used for a build- 

 ing material is apparently similar to that used by the 

 warriors for constructing their nurseries, being the 

 gnawings of wood in very small particles, kneaded 

 into a paste with some species of cement or glue, 

 procured, as Smeathman supposes, partly from gum- 

 miferous trees, and partly from themselves; but it is 

 more probable, we think, that it is wholly secreted, 

 like the wax of bees, by the insects themselves. 

 With this cement, whatever may be its composition, 

 they construct their cells, in which there is nothing 

 very wonderful except their great numbers. They 

 are very firmly built^ and so strongly attached to the 

 trees, that they will resist the most violent tornado. 

 It is impossible, indeed, to detach them, except by 

 cutting them in pieces, or sawing off the branch, 

 which is frequently done to procure the insects for 

 young turkeys. (See engraving, p. 300, for a figure 

 of this nest.) 



This species very oflen, instead of selecting the 

 bough of a tree, builds in the roof or wall of a house, 

 and unless observed in time and expelled, occasions 

 considerable damage. It is easier, in fact, to shut 



■' Latreille, Hist. Nat. Gen'^'rale, torn. xiii. p. 64. 



