QUEER LITTLE FOLKS. 131 



the owner will return and find only the ghosts of furniture 

 remaining, which disappear at the first rude touch. A 

 ■whole staircase is destroyed in two weeks, and tables, chairs, 

 and book-cases in much less time. In Southern France, 

 where the termites have lately made their appearance, pa- 

 pers and clothing have to be protected in metal safes as 

 against burglars. On one occasion the wooden supports of 

 a dining-room were eaten through, and the flooring gave 

 way while a party were dining, much to the derangement 

 of the dinner and to the consternation of the host and 

 guests. 



8. The fire-ants of the Amazon, another omnivorous 

 tribe, are even a worse scourge than the termites. Mr. 

 Bates, the naturalist, says: " The village of Aveyros may 

 be called the head-quarters of the fire-ant, which may be 

 fittingly termed the scourge of this fine river. It is found 

 only in sandy soil and in open places, and seems to thrive 

 most in the neighborhood of houses and weedy villages ; it 

 does not make its home in the shades of the forest. Avey- 

 ros was deserted a few years before my visit on account of 

 this little tormentor, and the inhabitants had only recently 

 returned to their houses, thinking its numbers had de- 

 creased. It is a small species, not greatly differing from 

 the red ant of our own country, except that the pain and 

 irritation caused by its sting are much greater. 



9. " The soil of the whole village is undermined by 

 them ; the ground is perforated with the entrances to their 

 subterranean galleries, and a little sandy dome shows itself 



'here and there, where the insects bring their young to re- 

 ceive warmth near the surface. The houses are overrun 

 with them ; they dispute every fragment of food with the 

 inhabitants, and destroy clothing for the sake of the starch. 

 All eatables are obliged to be suspended in baskets from the 

 rafters, and the cords well soaked in copaiba-balsam, which 

 is the only means known to prevent them from climbing. 



