57° 



THE PHILOSOPHY 



• from any thing elfe upon the earth, and fo complicated, that I can- 

 ' not find words equal to the tafk.' 



When a breach is made in one of the hills by an ax, or other in- 

 ftrument, the firft obje£l that attrads attention is the behaviour of 

 the foldiers, or fighting infedls. Immediately after the blow is given,, 

 a foldier comes out, walks about the breach, and feems to examine 

 the nature of the enemy, or the caufe of the attack. He then goes 

 in to the hill, gives the alarm, and, in a fhort time, large bodies rufh 

 out as fail as the breach will permit. It is not eafy to defcribe the 

 fury thefe fighting infeds difcover. In their eagernefs to repel the 

 enemy, they frequently tumble down the fides of the hill, but re- 

 cover themfelves very quickly, and bite every thing they encounter. 

 This biting, joined to the ftriking of their forceps upon the build- 

 ing, makes a crackling or vibrating noife, which is fomewhat fliriller 

 and quicker than the ticking of a watch, and may be heard at the 

 diftance of three or four feet. While the attack proceeds, they are 

 in the moft violent buftle and agitation. If they get hold of any 

 part of a man's body, they inftantly make a wound, which difcharges 

 as much blood as is equal to their own weight. When they attack, 

 the leg, the ftain of blood upon the flocking extends more than an 

 inch in width. They make their hooked jaws meet at the firft 

 ftroke, and never quit their hold, but fuflFer themfelves to be pulled, 

 away leg by leg, and piece after piece, without the fmalleft attempt 

 to efcape. On the other hand, if a perfon keeps out of their reach, 

 and gives them no farther difturbance, in lefs than half an hour 

 they retire into the nefl, as if they fuppofed the wonderful monfter 

 that damaged their caftle had fled. Before the whole foldiers have 

 got In, the labouring Infeds are all in motion, and haften toward 

 the breach, each of them having a quantity of tempered mortar in 

 his mouth. This mortar they flick upon the breach as faft as they 

 arrive, and perform the operation with fo much defpatch and faci- 

 lity. 



