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letters, or quantities, as are compared one witli anotJier. 

 Soo PitoroifTiON. 



Tkhms, or courfei, in Mtdicinc, tlie menfcs, or women s 

 montlily purgations. r tt- i a 



TERMALY, in Giography, a town of Hindooilan, m 

 Myfore ; i 5 miles N.E. of Anantpour. 



TERMED, or Taumad, a town of Grand Buchaiia, at 

 the union of two large rivers, wliofc united ftreams form ttie 

 .lihon ; the capital of a confiderable dillria. In 1221, this 

 town was boiiegcd by Jenghis Khan, and, after eleven days, 

 taken by alTauh : after which the conqueror put moit of the 

 inhabitants to tiie fword, and deftroyed the town. It was 

 rebuilt in the following century ; i. 30 miles S. of Saraarcand. 

 N. lat. ^7° ^o'- E. long. 65^48'. 



TERMEH, or Kaumili, a river of Afiatic Turkey, 

 which runs into the Black fea, 30 miles N.E. of Samfoun. 



TERMERA, or Tekmkrilm, \\\ ArKient Geography, a 

 free town of Afia Minor, in Caria. 



TERMES, called Tterme, a town of Hither Spain, 

 belonging to the Arevaci, S. of Numantium. 



Ter.mes, in Entomology, a genus of the Aptera order 

 of infeds. Its charafters are, that it has fix legs formed for 

 running ; two eyes ; fetaceous antennx, and a mouth with 

 two jaws. According to Gmelin, the charafters are, that 

 tlie mouth has two horny jaws, with a horny, quadrifid lip, 

 linear acute fringes, four equal filiform feelers, or palpi, 

 antennae (moftly ) monilifonn, and two eyes. Linnseus enu- 

 merates three, and Gmelin eight 



Species. 



Fatale. Above brown ; thorax with three fegments ; 

 wings pallid, and cofta, or rib, teftaceous. This is the de- 

 ftruftor of Degeer, and T. bellicofum of Smeathman. It is 

 found in the (hady parts of the equinoftial regions of India 

 and Africa. See the fequel of this article. 



Destructor. Above teftaceous ; head black ; antenna 

 yellow. Found in the iflands oppofite to South America, 

 Africa, and India. 



Arda. Black ; abdomen with fegments white at the 

 apex ; legs paUid. Found in the equinoftial parts of Africa. 



MoKDAX. Black ; the fegments of the abdomen white 

 at the apex ; legs black. Found in the equinoftial parts of 

 Africa. 



Capense. Yellow, with hyaline wings ; brown at the 

 margin. Found in India and Southern Africa. 



FATrDKTJM. Abdomen ovate ; mouth pallid ; brown 

 eyes ; antennae fetaceous. Found in Europe, chiefly the 

 fouthern part. 



PuLSATORiUM. Abdomen oblong ; mouth red ; eyes 

 yellow ; antennae fetaceous. Found in Europe and Ame- 

 rica. 



DiviNATORiUM. Abdomen tranfverfely falcated ; brown 

 mouth, and black eyes. Chiefly found in books ; very lively, 

 irritable, and whitifh. 



It is obferved, that the European fpecies of termes are 

 very fmall, compared with thofe of the warmer regions of 

 Africa and America ; and infl:ead of being gregarious, as 

 in thofe climates, are ufually found fingle. Of thefe, the 

 mofl; known is the T. pulfatorius of Linnsus, a fmall infeft 

 of a whitifli colour, and diftinguilhed by Derham and fome 

 other naturalifts, by the appellation of " Pediculus pulfa- 

 torius." During the months of fumraer it is common in 

 houfes, particularly in decayed wainfcots, and is remarkable 

 for emitting a long-continued found, refembling the ticking 

 of a watch ; it is commonly met with in coUeftions of dried 

 plants, &c. to which it is very injurious. It cannot bear, 

 on acccwnt of its tender frame, the flighteft prefl'ure, and it 



T E II 



is very quick in its motion. When magnified, the head appears 

 large, tlie eyes very confpicuous, of a beautiful golden 

 colour, and divided into innumerable hexagonal convexities ; 

 the antennae long and fetaceous ; the palpi two in number, 

 moderately long, and terminating in a large club-diaped top ; 

 the thorax rather narrow, and tlie abdomen obtufely oval ; 

 the thighs, or firft joints of the legs, thick, the remaining 

 ones flender, and the feet furniflied with very fmall claws. 

 The whole animal is bcfet with fcattered hairs. This infeft, 

 according to the obfervations of Derham, when firfl; hatched 

 from the egg, is white, oval, and very fmall, exaftly refem- 

 bling a common mite ; furniflied with eight legs, and befet 

 with long hairs. After a certain time it cafts its fliin, and 

 appears in the form already defcribed. Degeer has found 

 on each fide of the thorax the appearances of rudiments of 

 wings, refembling a pair of oblong fcales ; and Dr. Shaw 

 affirms, from his own obfervations, that fome individuals of 

 this fpecies become winged at their full growth ; the wings, 

 four in number, being very large, of a flightly indiftinft 

 appearance, and variegated with blackifli and brown clouds 

 or fpots. In the beginning of July this change takes place, 

 and feveral infefts may be feen wi-th the wings half-grown ; 

 in a few days they gain their full fize. 



Dr. Derham is of opinion, that the ticking found of thefe 

 animals is analogous to the call of birds to their mates during 

 the breeding feafon ; and this opinion is very probable. This 

 found, fays Dr. Shaw, as well as that produced by the " Ptinus 

 fatidicus," or death-watch, feems to prove in a convincing 

 manner, that infefts poffefs the faculty of hearing, though 

 this be-denied by fome naturalifts. 



Of the exotic termites, the moft remarkable is the 

 T. bellicofus. The animals of this fpecies have lately 

 been minutely defcribed by Mr. Smeathman, from whofe 

 account the following particulars are extrafted. 



The termites, which have been taken notice of by various 

 travellers in different parts of the torrid zone, and called by 

 the name of white ants, refcmble the ants in their manner of 

 living, which is in communities, forming extraordinary nefts 

 in the furface of the ground, and various fubterraneous paf- 

 fages, and alfo in their provident and diligent labour ; but 

 in both refpefts much furpafs them. The termites are re- 

 prefented by Linnaeus as the greateft calamity of both 

 Indies, becaufe of the havoc they make in all kinds of 

 wooden buildings, utenfils, and furniture, fb that nothing but 

 metal or ftone can efcape their deftruftive jaws. 



Smeathman obferves, that the infeft in its perfeft ftate has 

 four wings without any fting, and fliould therefore be ranged 

 under the neuroptera, and not under the aptera of the Lin- 

 nsan fyftem. The communities of termites confift of one 

 male and one female, generally the parents of all the reft, 

 and of three orders of infefts, apparently of very dif- 

 ferent, though really of the fame fpecies. Thofe of the firft 

 order are the working infefts, or labourers ; the fecond 

 comprehends the fighting infefts, or foldiers, which do no 

 labour ; and the third are the winged ones, or perfeft in- 

 fefts, which are male and female, and capable of propa- 

 gation, but neither labour nor fight ; the kings and queens 

 belong to this order, and within a few weeks after they are 

 elefted and elevated to this rank, they migrate, and either 

 eftabhfli new kingdoms, or perifli within a day or two. The 

 largeft fpecies, called termes beUicofus, is the beft known on 

 the coaft of Africa ; it erefts immenfe buildings of well- 

 tempered earth or clay, which are conftrufted with fignal 

 ingenuity : it does infinite mifchief in one refpeft, and in 

 another it is peculiarly important and ufeful, by deftroying 

 thofe vegetable or animal fubftances which incumber the 

 earth, and are noxious on Recount of their putridity. The 



buildings 



