No. 488] 



NOTES AND LITERATURE 



537 



neys 10 -20 cm. high, surrounded by the scattered earth brought up 

 in excavating the underground chambers. In fact in some cases the 

 nest is entirely under ground and the chimneys are wanting. Reasons 



Internally the nest is composed of numerous chambers roughly 

 oval in sha])e, 5-25 cm. in diameter and .5-15 cm. in height, connected 

 by numerous galleries sometimes as much as 1 cm. in diameter but 

 generally only large enough to permit of the passage of two or three 

 insects at once. Similar galleries connect the chambers with the chim- 

 ney. For a discussion of the purposes of this structure the original 

 paper must be consulted. Some idea of the extent of the uiidergroinid 

 system of these nests may be gained from experinuMiis which retell 

 made; in one case water was run in for two hours iVoin a i)ii>e (leli\( r- 

 ing 15 gallons per mmute but this was quite fruitless lar as Hlling 

 the opening was concerned. 



The chambers, except the royal cell, are generally nearly filled 

 with a structure designated as the comb. This is a grayish or brown- 

 ish mass, traversed in all directions l)y a labyrinth of anastomosing 

 galleries, and closely ivsenibliiig in general ap])ea ranee a coarse l)aiii 

 sponge. The combs lie free in the eliaiiib.M's, l(\iviii«r a rh-ar space of 



has disappeared. The fact that the same substance is found in the 

 intestines of the workers and soldiers, taken in connection with the 

 regularity of formation of the comb from the small pellets, shows that 

 this is made up of the excreta of the tennit(vs. It ^\ ill tlins be seen that 

 the comb itself is not of fungus oriu-in. 



The surface of the coinl) is uiwii a -Tavi-h or ulaiicoiis appearance 



