No. 2.] Reprints and Miscellaneous Notes. 103 



to fatal and early disappearance. Dissennination must and does exist 

 in the Termites. 



When a nest has furnished a swarm of winged males and females, 

 there are always to be found in the proximity of the colony, or even 

 about the orifice of exit, a few stray individuals which have lost their 

 wings. They go, as a rule, in pairs, the one following the other 

 very closely. The leader is invariably a female, while her follower 

 is a male. When these couples are captured, they speedily perish, 

 unless they are kept under natural conditions, which apparently has 

 never been done. 



My own method of proceeding is as follows : — In a large jar 

 containing a certain quantity of earth is placed a block of old dead 

 wood, it matters little whether of oak, fir, or elm. More earth is 

 then added, so as to surround the lower part of the wood to a height 

 of several centimetres. One or more pairs of Termites, which are 

 then placed upon the wood, quickly creep between it and the earth, 

 and take up their abode in some depression, either underneath or 

 upon the sides of the buried portion of the wood. A few drops of 

 water added from time to time, so as to restore the moisture which 

 is lost by evaporation, are sufficient to keep everything in its proper 

 condition. The jar should remain open, to avoid mould. The 

 insects, moreover, never make the slightest attempt to escape. 



Under these conditions the Termites live very well. At the endi 

 of from two to three weeks it may be seen that they have selected a 

 domicile between the earth and the wood, and that they have also 

 been feeding. Their abdomens, which were formerly flat, are now 

 slightly convex. They are very lively and extremely active. The 

 narrow space wherein they are living, closed on every side, contains 

 a Httle fine woody powder, coming from the wood the surface of 

 which has been attacked. Later on they have attacked it more 

 directly at some point or other, and have commenced to excavate in 

 it the commencement of a gallery. 



Some pairs obtained on April 2gth, in the present year, were alive 

 and in perfect health on July 4th. They had manifestly increased in 

 size, and in their swollen and distended abdomens the interseg- 

 mental membranes appeared as fine white borders separating the 

 black disks of the segments. The bulkier abdomens of certain speci- 

 mens clearly distinguished them as females. 



On August 30th the Termites were still thoroughly alive, but 

 somewhat difficult to discover, since they have penetrated deeper 

 into the wood, and were lodged in a globular chamber, to which 

 access was given by a narrow orifice in connection with the 



