PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 31l 
run against. If the attack proceeds, the bustle and agitation increase to 
a tenfold degree, and their fury is raised to its highest pitch. Woe to him 
whose hands or legs they can come at! for they will make their fanged 
jaws meet at the very first stroke, drawing as much blood as will counter- 
poise their whole body, and never quitting their hold, even though they 
are pulled limb from limb, The naked legs of the Negroes expose them 
frequently to this injury ; and the stockings of the European are not suf- 
ficient to defend him. 
On the other hand, if, after the first attack, you get a little out of the 
way, giving them no further interruption, supposing the assailant of their 
citadel is gone beyond their reach, in less than half an hour they will 
retire into the nest; and before they have all entered, you will see the 
labourers in motion, hastening in various directions towards the breach, 
every one carrying in his mouth a mass of mortar half as big as his body’, 
yeady tempered : — this mortar is made of the finer parts of the gravel, 
which they probably select in the subterranean pits or passages before 
described, which, worked up to a proper consistence, hardens to the solid 
substance, resembling stone, of which their nests are constructed. As fast 
as they come up, each sticks its burden upon the breach ; and this is done 
with so much regularity and despatch, that although thousands, nay, 
millions, are employed, they never appear to embarrass or interrupt one 
another. By the united labours of such an infinite host of creatures the 
wall soon rises, and the breach is repaired. 
While the labourers are thus employed, almost all the soldiers have 
retired quite out of sight, except here and there one, who saunters about 
amongst them, but never assists in the work. One, in particular, places 
himself close to the wall which they are building; and turning himself 
leisurely on all sides, as if to survey the proceedings, appears to act the 
part of an overseer of the works. Every now and then, at the interval of 
a minute or two, by lifting up his head and striking with his forceps upon 
the wall of the nest, he makes a particular noise, which is answered by a 
loud hiss from all the labourers, and appears to be a signal for despatch ; 
for, every time it is heard, they may be seen to redouble their pace, and 
apply to their work with increased diligence. Renew the attack, and 
this amusing scene will be repeated : —in rush the labourers, all disappear- 
ing ina few seconds, and out march the military as numerous and vin- 
dictive as before. When all is once more quiet, the busy labourers re- 
appear, and resume their work, and the soldiers vanish. Repeat the 
experiment a hundred times, and the same will always be the result ;— 
you will never find, be the peril or emergency ever so great, that one order 
attempts to fight, or the other to work. 
You have seen how solicitous the Termites are to move and work 
under cover and concealed from observation ; this, however, is not always 
the case;—there is a species larger than T. bellicosus, whose proceedings. 
I have been principally describing, which Mr. Smeathman calls the march- 
ing Termes (Zermes viarum). He was once passing through a thick forest, 
when on a sudden a loud hiss, like that of serpents, struck him with alarm. 
The next step produced a repetition of the sound, which he then re- 
1 The anonymous author before alluded to, who observed the Ceylon white ants’ 
Says, that such was the size of the masses, which were tempered with a strong 
gluten, that they adhered though laid on the upper part of the breach. 
x4 
