Chap. XII.] 



THE WHITE ANT. 



415 



pregnated with camphor or aromatic oils, which they 

 dislike, presents any obstacle to their ingress. I have 

 had a case of wine filled, in the course of two days, 

 with almost solid clay, and only discovered the pre- 

 sence of the white ants by the escape from the corks. 

 I have had a portmanteau in my tent so peopled with 

 them in the course of a single night that the contents 

 were found worthless in the morning. In an incredibly 

 short time a detachment of these pests will destroy a 

 press full of records, reducing the paper to fragments ; 

 and a shelf of books will be tunnelled into a gallery if 

 it happen to be in their line of march. The timbers of 

 a house when fairly attacked are eaten from within till 

 the beams are reduced to an absolute shell, so thin that 

 it may be punched through with the point of the finger : 

 and even kyanized wood, unless impregnated with an 

 extra quantity of corrosive sublimate, appears to occasion 

 them no inconvenience. The only effectual precaution 

 for the protection of furniture is incessant vigilance — 

 the constant watching of every article, and its daily 

 removal from place to place, in order to baffle their 

 assaults. 



They do not appear in the hills above the elevation of 

 4000 or 5000 feet. One species of white ant, the 

 Termes Taprobanes, was at one time believed by Mr. 

 Walker to be peculiar to the island, but it has recently 

 been found in Sumatra and Borneo, and in some parts 

 of Hindustan. 



There is a species of Termes in Ceylon (T. monoceros), 

 which always builds its nest in the hollow of an old tree ; 

 and, unlike the others, carries on its labours without 

 the secrecy and protection of a covered way. A march- 

 ing column of these creatures may be observed at early 



