44 



INTRODUCTION. 



Wherever man has not drained the marshes, and cleared the forests, insects reign wiln resist- 

 less sway. History has recorded several examples oi' towns and countries rendered uninhabi- 

 table by the multitudes of bees, wasps, and gnats. Armies and whole tribes have been com- 

 pelled to fly before these feeble creatures, rendered invincible by their numbers. 



In Asia and Africa, there is a remarkable animal of the ant kind, called termites, or White 



Ants. When they find their 

 way into houses, nothing less 

 hard than metal or glass es 

 capes their ravages. Their 

 favorite food is wood, and 

 such is ihe multitude of thr< 

 assailants, and such the ex- 

 cellence of their tools, that 

 all the timber-work of a spa- 

 cious apartment is often de- 

 stroyed by them in a single 

 night. Outwardly every thing, 

 appears as if untouched, but 

 they destroy first the inside, 

 and conceal their operations 

 by stopping up ti)e apertures 

 with a coat of clay. 



Fishes, though generally confined to the sea, sometimes forsake their native element. In the 

 West Indies, there is a kind of walking fish, which takes to the land, and throws itself along by 

 'erks, in this way traveling considerable distances. The flying-fish skims through the air ; eels 

 traverse the meadows ; and, on the coast of Coromandel, there is a kind of perch that climb 

 palm-trees. 



1. Great Dragon. 2. Chameleon. 3. Flying Lizard. 4. Frilled Lizard. 



The alligator and crocodile, as well as other lizards, are mostly found in or near tropical 

 countries. The largest serpents are also confined to these regions. . ' : i'' 



Hill of Termites. Section of hill of Termites. 



