268 
TIMBEE 
which goes by the name of the white ant and does a great 
deal of damage in the tropics, both to Hve and dead timber, 
though particularly the latter, in dwellings and farniture. 
It is this insect which does the damage in what we usually 
call " worm-eaten furniture," which in the temperate zone 
does not usually occur until tlie wood becomes very old and 
dry ; but only recently the author saw these pests in great 
numbers destroying the framework of a piano, and that 
not a very old one, in an English dwelling-house. 
They are' almost impossible to exterminate, and varying 
solutions have been tried on timber to stay their ravages 
with but moderate success. 
The white ants of Northern Australia are larger and 
more destructive ihan probably in any other part of the 
world; even lead and zinc are not proof against them. 
They attack growing timber as well as structural timber, 
working through the heart of the trees from roots to 
top ; the only kind which resists them is the cypress pine, 
which, on this account, is generally used for building work 
in these latitudes. The two eucalypti, bloodwood and paper 
bark, withstand the white ant to some extent ; while seasoned 
jarrah and sugar gum sleepers have been about a quarter 
eaten away in a few months. The timbers which resist the 
white ants fairly well in one locality are quickly destroyed 
by those of another. Corbolineum and anti-termite have 
been tried in Australia and do check their ravages for a 
time, but they soon lose their efficacy in tropical climates. 
