84 GRAMMAR OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



of wood gnawed off with their jaws, but when 

 examined under a lens are found to consist prin- 

 cipally of gum, or the inspissated juices of plants. 



275. Their mode of proceeding is to consume 

 the interior of whatever they attack, leaving the 

 exterior quite perfect ; thus fences, wainscots, 

 bed-posts, &c. are often totally consumed, except- 

 ing an exterior surface not thicker than a wafer, 

 which yields to the slightest pressure : houses and 

 whole villages are thus frequently rendered unin- 

 habitable. 



276. When an upright post leading to rafters 

 or a roof which is an object of attack, bears too 

 great a weight to allow of this excavating, the 

 parts consumed are supplied by the mortar of 

 which the nest is fabricated, a small gallery for 

 ascent only being left : this mortar becomes hard 

 as stone, so that a wooden is often converted into 

 a stone pillar. 



277. The rapidity of their operations is so 

 great that in two or three days a table may be 

 completely consumed, if allowed to stand in the 

 same place : they enter through the floor, exca- 

 vate a leg, then the top, and descend by another 

 leg ; leaving the whole as perfect in appearance 

 as before touched, though in reality a mere shell. 



278. Portmanteaus, trunks, &c. are served in 

 the same manner, the linen, papers, and every 

 substance they contained, excepting metal and 

 glass, being consumed; the frames of pictures and 



