182 



NATURE S TEACHINGS. 



made of tlie rich red stone of the comity, it is a common thing 

 to see village houses built of mud. Sometimes the houses are 

 built of stone to the height of some ten or twelve feet, and the 

 upper parts made of mud. 



. If the builders are in any way fastidious, they make their 

 walls of a uniform surface by placing two rows of planks on 



NEST OP TERMITE. 



MUD WALL. 



their edges at a distance from each other proportionate to the 

 thickness of the wall, pouring the mud between them, and, 

 when it has sufficiently hardened, shifting the planks. This, 

 however, is not necessary, and detracts much from the pic- 

 turesque look of a genuine mud wall, especially when it is of 

 that rich red which characterizes the Devonshire soil. These 

 mud walls are locally known by the name of Cob. 



We have not to go very far in Nature to find good examples 

 of the strength which can be attained by mud walls. 



In all parts of the world where Termites, popularly but 

 wrongly called White Ants, are to be found, the strength and 

 endurance of the mud wall can easily be tested. Of gigantic 

 dimensions when compared with the size of the architect, they 

 not only endure the rain-torrents which wash over them, but 

 can sustain the weight of the wild cattle, which are in the habit 

 of using them as watch-towers, and this although they are 

 hollow, and filled with chambers and galleries. 



In Southern Africa these nests are much utilised. There is 

 an animal called by the Dutch settlers the Aard-vark, which 



