220 
Supplement to the '^Tropical AgrkuUunst." [Sept. 1, 1903. 
weight to he taken to account, but also the kinds 
inhabitants are concerned. The floor is flat, with 
a regular rounded dome, about the size and shape 
of an inverted saucer ; it is attached all round 
the edge to the floor, but there are numerous 
openings all round so that the attendants can 
run in and out. Here in the centre of the cu rious 
cell lies the Queen, who can never move beyond 
the limits of her chamber ; once a slender graceful 
pinged insect, she now rests incapable of move- 
ment, for her head, neck, and legs have remained 
the same size as of old, but her body, distended 
with eggs, has swollen out until it is as thick 
as one's little finger, white in colour and cylindrical 
in form. Carefully tended and fed by her little 
■workers, her whole mission in life is to lay eggs, 
which are the sole means by which^thejife of this 
city of millions is perpetuated. 
Above the Queen's Chamber we come to the 
nursery, the centre of which is a structure about 
the size of a man's head, formed of curled sheets 
of more brittle material, and much thicker than 
brown paper, in which the tiuy baby white ants 
dwell until large enough to roam at large. 
Now, the whole of this remarkable nest is 
composed of a kind of papier-mache, for though- 
it was once wood, it has been chewed up as food 
by the inhabitants, passed through their bodies, 
and deposited in the form we now see it as 
building material. 
About the end of October this nest would have 
been in a regular whirl of excitement, for about 
that time the winged males and female white ants 
have undergone their final moult, cast off the 
pupal skin, and are ready for flight. The workers 
pierce the walls all over with narrow galleries, 
down which the winged ones crawl, but the open- 
ings at first are guarded by soldiers, uutil 
everything is ready, and then out they fly in 
a stream for hours. These are the flying ants 
that come round the lamps in such numbers on 
muggy evenings in the early summer, dropping 
their wings ofE as they crawl over the table. 
As you all know, white ants are very destructive 
creatures, from their habits of eating wood or 
anything else in their way, and are sometimes 
called the "carpenters' friends," because they 
cause 80 much damage to woodwork, which has 
to be repaired or renewed by the carpenter. Even 
in the heart of the city of Sydney they are 
sometimes found eating out roofs and floors of 
houses. A wonderful instinct seems to tell them 
wherever wood is to be found, and they will mine 
or carry their little covered galleries many yards 
up a brick or stone wall to get into a roof above. 
White ants are looked upon as very good food 
by the natives of some tropical countries. It is 
said that once when a great Bayere chief came to 
pay a state call on Dr. Livingstone in his camp in 
Central Africa, the Doctor, wishing to show honor 
to his guest, gave him some apricot jam on bread, 
and asked him if he had ever tasted anything as 
good. "Ah I" said the chief, " you should try 
roast wliite ante." — Agricultural Gazette of 
RHEA IN INDIA. 
The cultivation of rhea and the preparation of 
fibre and cloth made from it have evidently taken 
practical shape in India. The Cejion experi- 
ments in this direction appear to have been 
conducted in a very half-hearted manner, and 
their failure was not to be wondered at. 
The Bengal Ehea Syndicate has already sent out 
not only the prepared fibre but a shipment of goods 
to Europe, and the result of the enterprise will 
be watched with the greatest interest by those 
looking about for a new industry. The Calcutta 
Agents of the Syndicate are Messrs. Jules 
Karpeles & Co., No, 1, Pollock St, 
So far, we learn through the Indian Agricul- 
turist, only the manufacture of fine kinds of cloth- 
ing has been attempted, owing to the Syndicate 
not at present being in a po-ition to send large 
quantities. They have got about 5,000 acres 
under crop, and are continually extending it. Tne 
manager in Calcutta, Mr. Ballarin, thinks that it 
will bs two years before large quantities of goods 
could be placed on the market, and then 
the Syndiciite hop3 to flood Calcutta with 
cheap, durable and " dhoby-proof " goods, Ehea 
is expected to take the place of both silk and 
cotton, being cheaper than silk and equal in pric« 
to fine cotton, but almost fifty times as strong, 
and easier to work into cloth than the latter. 
The present price of rhea is said to be the same as 
that of American cotton, and decidedly below 
that of Egyptian. The fight is expected to be, 
however, chiefly with the former, as it is so much 
more largely used at present. Silk, hemp, and 
linen manufacturers are, it is thought, likely to be 
affected by rhea which never rots " though left 
in water for years." It is known that the fibre 
serves well when used for nets. 
Such experience as we ourselves have had 
certainly goes to prove the contention that the 
fibre even in the form of lace defies the destructive 
art of the local washerman ! 
PRINCIPLES OF NUTRITION AND 
NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FOOD. 
(Continued from page 7.) 
For people in health there are certain rules of 
diet to be observed. The first is to choose food that 
agrees with them. The second is to use such 
kinds and amounts of food as will supply all the 
needs of the body, and at the same time to avoid 
over-burdening it with superfluous material to be 
disposed of at the cost of health and strength. The 
evils of over-eating will make themselves felt 
sooner or later in some form or another. 
The best physiological evidence goes to show 
that moderate quantities of food taken at moder- 
ate intervals are more easily and completely 
digested than large quantities taken at long inter- 
vals. 
In considering the pecuniary economy of food 
one must acquire what diets furnish the largest 
amount of available nourishment at the lowest 
cost. Not only has the price per given quantity or 
