the Termites of Africa and other hot Climates . 145 
Of every fpecies there are three orders ; firft, the working 
Infe&s, which, for brevity, I fhall generally call labourers % 
next the fighting ones, or foldiers , which do no kind of 
labour ; and, lafi of all, the winged ones, or perfect infe£ls f 
which are male and female, and capable of propagation* 
Thefe might very appofitely be called the nobility or gentry , 
for they neither labour, or toil, or fight, being quite incapable 
of either, and almoft of felf-defence. Thefe only are capable 
of being eleded kings or queens ; and nature has fo ordered it, 
that they emigrate within a few weeks after they are elevated 
to this flate, and either eftablifh new kingdoms, or perifli 
within a day or two. 
The Hermes bellicofus being the largefl fpecies is mofl re- 
markable and bed: known on the Coafl of Africa. It erects 
immenfe buildings of well-tempered clay or earth, which are 
contrived and finifhed with fuch art and ingenuity, that we are 
at a lofs to fay, whether they are mod: to be admired on that 
account, or for their enormous magnitude and folidity. It is 
from the two lower orders of this, or a fimilar fpecies, that 
jlinnjeus feems to have taken his defcription of the Hermes 
Fatalisy and mofl of the accounts brought home from Africa 
or Aha of the white Ants are alfc taken from a fpecies that 
are fo much alike in external habit and hze, and build fo much 
In their manner, that one may almoft venture to pronounce 
them mere variations of the fame fpecies. 
The reafon that the larger Termites have been mofl remarked 
is obvious ; they not only build larger and more curious nefls, 
but are alfo more numerous, and do infinitely more mifchief to 
mankind. When thefe infe&s attack fuch things as we would 
not wifh to have injured, we muft conhder them as mofl perni- 
cious ; but when they are employed in deftroying decayed trees 
"VoLs XfXX,I» U and 
