ENTOMOLOGY. 



they may be justly supposed very useful. The rapid vege- 

 tation in hot climates, of which no idea can be formed in 

 other countries, is equalled by as great a degree of destruc- 

 tion, from natural as well as accidental causes. So when 

 trees, and even woods, are in part destroyed by tornadoes or 

 fire, it is wonderful to observe how many agents are employ- 

 ed in hastening the total dissolution of the rest. In some 

 parts of Senegal, the number, magnitude and closeness of 

 their buildings, make them appear like the villages of the 

 natives, the form of each building being like a sugar loaf. 

 The inner part is divided into an amazing number of apart- 

 ments, for the residence of the King and Queen, and is 

 considerably larger than the others, it being constantly 

 also in the centre of the building. The Queen, when at 

 her full size, becomes very large, and she, as well as the 

 King, can never possibly go out, as the entrances and pas- 

 sages are only just wide enough to admit (he Soldiers or 

 Labourers, of which great numbers are necessary, and who 

 are always in the adjoining apartments, to which there are 

 numerous side passages communicating with each other. 

 Near these on each side are the magazines and nurseries; in 

 these are the provisions kept, which consist of raspings of 

 wood and the particular gums of different plants. There 

 are also several wide galleries, which intersect the building 

 in different directions, and the oven, or cell, which contains 

 the Queen, is placed on level with the external ground and 

 in the centre of the whole. 



It appears that when these animals devour the posts and 

 beams of the roof of a house, they replace the cavities 

 which they make by a kind of clay, this, it is supposed, is 

 to prevent the Ants from following them, and Kempfer 

 relates an instance of their piercing the leg of a table, then 

 passing on by the top and down the opposite leg, without 

 injuring several papers which were left upon it. 



