Sept. 1, 1903.] Supplement to the " Tropical AgricuUu}i>i*'' 
219 
If you want to knov7 anything about a thing, 
the be-t method is to study it in its nnturnl sur- 
roundings ; so let us shoulder a pick and axe, 
and go out into the paddock and inve-itigate one 
of the large domed ''ant nests" that by years 
of work these industrious little miners have raised 
over what was once a dead log. There are many 
other kinds of white ants' nests, both here and 
in other parts of the world : some, blackened and 
rounded masses built in the fork of a dead tree, 
are known as " negro heads " in the West Indies ; 
others are constructed in hollow trees, under logs, 
and deep down underground in roots and stumps, 
some nests containing only a few score inhabi- 
tants, others countless millions. 
This earth-covered dome which we are about 
to open out is, however, typical of the curious 
termitaria (ntlierwise termites' or white ants' 
home) which are found all over the warmer 
parts of the world, some of which at Port 
Darwin, in North Aus^ralin, are 18 to 20 ft. 
in height. Years ago a pair of winged white 
ants flying from nn adjoining nest which had 
become too crowded to hold them and many 
thousai ds more of their brothers and sisters, 
after escaping their many enemies, tired and 
worn out, crept under the log and commenced- 
housekeeping on their own account. Their wings 
had fallen off soon after they alighted, so they 
could not have gone much further, and would 
have soon starved to death, but a wandering 
band of workers and soldiers of their own species 
came across them, and recognised them as rela- 
tions. They were certainly very unlike each 
other, for the worker white ants had never 
possessed wings, but were soft white creatures 
with broad rounded heads, and a pair of thick- 
toothed black jaws hidden under the front of 
the head most admirably adapted for gnawing 
wood i while the soldiers, who did not go in 
for work, but simply acted as an armed escort 
for the helpless woikmen, were provided with a 
long pair of black scissor-like jaws projecting 
in front of an elongated yellow head, with which 
they could easily snip off the head of any enemy 
that came across their path. They had also above 
the jaw a little circular hole connected with a 
chamber in the top of the head containing a lot of 
sticky white fluid, that they could also discharge 
at will over the top of the fighting jaws, and give 
their enemy a very bad time indeed. Though 
both the workers and soldiers were quite blind 
it did not matter very much to them, as the 
whole of their lives were spent in the dark, 
working under cover, and wingless ; but the king 
and queen, as we will now call the once flying but 
now wingless pair, are provided with a fine pair 
of eyes, and vary from almost black to chocolate 
brown in colour. Fired with ambition, this band 
of travellers forgot all about their old home, 
and set to work to found a new colony, which 
in the course of time from very humble beginnings, 
after many additions and enlargements, has riteu 
up to the mound before us. 
This nest is a little over 5| ft. in height, 
with a rounded dome-shaped top, swelling out at 
the base to about 10 ft. in circumference. The 
outer shell consists of a mantle of solid earth 
varying from 18 in. to 2 ft. la thickness on the 
summit, hut much thinner at the base. All this 
great mass of earth, as it was scraped off the 
surrounding surface, has been carried up bit by bit; 
in the jaws of these busy little masons, and mixed 
with a mortar-like excrement that lias j)assed 
through their bodies, formed into a clay wall that 
has dried and hardened in the sun. So fine is this 
clay, that in Ceylon the native jewellers use it for 
polishing their gems ; it also sets well, and is 
often used for making earthern floors in houses 
in the bush. Now, we will break a hole in 
the side on the thinnest part of the outer wall 
and expose a portion of the woody mass within, 
and see what a commotion we have caused. All 
the workers in the breach rush into the galleiies 
behind for shelter, and the yellow-headed soldiers 
come hurrying to the front, but, evidently finding 
the damage more extensive than usual, retreat 
in good order into the front of the galleries 
running back into the heart of the colony, where 
they stand on guard with their sharp jaws 
projected, and their slender bead-like antennae 
waving backwards and forwards just touching the 
comrade on either side. In a very short time you 
see that there is something going on behind their 
ranks, and presently out walks a worker bearing 
a, smiill clay brick in her jaws, which she lays 
down in the front of the opening, puis it down 
with her head and then turns round and dis- 
charges a drop of ready-made mortar on the top 
of it, 8he then backs out, making room for the 
next one to repeat the process, until in a very 
short time a low rampart is raised in front of 
the tunnel, an^ in the course of a few hour?, 
every gallery facing the hole is sealed up. They 
appear to know that it is of no use trying to 
mend the great gap in the clay wall, so ihey 
make temporary repairs, and later on fill up the 
gap under cover of night, for if you visit it a 
few weeks later you will find it patched up with 
fresh clay, and nicely rounded over. As we now 
want to examine the internal structure of the nest 
we set to work with axe and pick, and soon re- 
move all the clay wall, exposing a smaller domed 
mound of dark brownish material honeycombed 
and folded together in flattened masses, with 
the base buried about six inches in the ground, 
from under which are a few main underground 
roads leading away out to adjacent stumps and 
logs. The best method of examination is to get a 
pole and overlurn the iie~t, cut away the base 
which is now swarming with millions of little 
white ants in all stages of growth, even the 
large dark bliickish winged ones if it be late 
in the season, and study the whole in detail. 
Though the summit and outer surface of the sides 
consist of hard solid masses loosely attached to 
each other, the under portions forms a net- work of 
much softer material. Turning the nest, detached 
at the base, over on its side, we cut away until we 
come to what looks like a few table-spoonsful 
of fine crystalline sugar, but are really eggs ia 
the process of hatching, carried out of the Queen's 
Chamber by the attendant workers as soon as 
they are laid. Taking more care we come to 
a more solid mass, which is the Queens's Chamber, 
and the centre of the universe iu as far as tha 
