124 BOMBAY DUCKS 
in which he actually succeeded in obtaining some workers 
from a royal couple which were placed in captivity un- 
attended by neuters. 
Thus it is possible that some of the winged forms 
which appeared last night have been received into nests 
which are already established, have set up a new 
dynasty, and are to-day being acclaimed as kings and 
queens by thousands of loyal subjects. It is, further, 
almost certain that, of all the termites that showed 
themselves yesterday, a few couples have paired, escaped 
destruction, and managed to find holes or dark corners 
in which to lay eggs that will produce workers which 
will one day attack our property. But there is no 
denying the fact that the vast majority of yesterday’s 
swarm have perished. 
This enormous waste of life is a very common occur- 
rence among Nature’s humbler servants. In the case of 
some creatures it is probable that, of many thousand 
young which are hatched, only one, or possibly two, 
come to maturity; all the remainder are cut off early 
in life. 
Nature knows two methods of maintaining a species. 
One is for the parent to give birth to thousands of 
young and leave these to fend for themselves as best 
they can, trusting that, out of the multitude, a few will 
reach maturity and in their turn produce offspring. 
The other method is for the mother to give birth to but 
few young and to tend these few with the greatest care, 
until they become old and strong enough to look after 
themselves. In the end the results are the same, which- 
ever method be adopted, but the former is the more 
