312 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 
cognised to be that of white ants; yet he was surprised at seeing none 
of their hills or covered ways. Following the noise, to his great astonish. 
ment and delight he saw an army of these creatures emerging from a hole 
in the ground ; their number was prodigious, and they marched with the 
utmost celerity. When they had proceeded about a yard they divided 
into two columns, chiefly composed of labourers, about fifteen abreast, 
following each other in close order, and going straight forward. Here and 
there was seen a soldier, carrying his vast head with apparent difficulty, 
and looking like an ox in a flock of sheep, who marched on in the same 
manner. At the distance of a foot or two from the columns many other 
soldiers were to be seen, standing still or pacing about as if upon the look- 
out, lest some enemy should suddenly surprise their unwarlike comrades; 
— other soldiers, which was the most extraordinary and amusing part of 
the scene, having mounted some plants and placed themselves on the 
points of their leaves, elevated from ten to fifteen inches from the ground, 
hung over the army marching below, and by striking their forceps upon 
the leaf, produced at intervals the noise before mentioned. To this signal 
the whole army returned a hiss, and obeyed it by increasing their pace. 
The soldiers at these signal stations sat quite still during the intervals of 
silence, except now and then making a slight turn of the head, and seemed 
as solicitous to keep their posts as regular sentinels. The two columns of 
this army united after continuing separate for twelve or fifteen paces, 
having in no part been above three yards asunder, and then descended 
into the earth by two or three holes. Mr. Smeathman continued watch- 
ing them for above an hour, during which time their numbers appeared 
neither to increase nor diminish :—the soldiers, however, who quitted the 
line of march and acted as sentinels, became much more numerous before 
he quitted the spot. The larva and neuters of this species are furnished 
with eyes. 
The societies of Termes lucifugus, discovered by Latreille at Bordeaux, 
are very numerous ; but instead of erecting artificial nests, they make their 
lodgment in the trunks of pines and oaks, where the branches diverge from 
the tree, ‘They eat the wood the nearest the bark, or the alburnum, with- 
out attacking the interior, and bore a vast number of holes and irregular 
galleries. That part of the wood appears moist, and is covered with little 
gelatinous particles, not unlike gum-arabic. These insects seem to be 
furnished with an acid of a yery penetrating odour, which perhaps is 
useful to them for softening the wood.!_ The soldiers in these societies are 
as about one to twenty-five of the labourers.? The anonymous author of 
the observations on the Termites of Ceylon seems to have discovered a 
sentry-box in his nests. I found,” says he, “in a very small cell in the 
middle of the solid mass (a cell about half an inch in height, and very nar- 
row), a larva with an enormous head. Two of these individuals were in 
.the same cell: — one of the two seemed placed as sentinel at the entrance 
of the cell. Iamused myself by forcing the door two or three times :— 
the sentinel immediately appeared, and only retreated when the door was 
on the point to be stopped up, which was done in three minutes by the 
labourers.” 
T hope this account has reconciled you in some degree to the destruc- 
' Latr. Hist. Nat. xiii. 64, 2 N. Dict, d’'Hist, Nat. xxii. 67, 58. 
