460 
SPANISH TOWN. 
making purposes, is not however the sole evil at- 
tendant on their establishment in a cane-field. They 
carry into the body of the stock which they perforate a 
mass of pure earth, and add to the deteriorated juice 
of the cane a quantity of absolute filth, that must 
do incalculable mischief wherever only a single joint 
of the plant they have contaminated is unfortunately 
mixed with the sound and uninfected canes. 
‘‘We are all familiar with the Tree Termite, the 
Termes lucifugus^ or white ant, that fornis galleries 
in the trunks of trees : we are also well acquainted 
with the nest-building Termite, the Termes arhorum, 
that constructs a large massy habitation in trees, and 
contrives a covered way from the ground to the nest, 
along the outside of branches, composed of small 
pieces of gnawed wood cemented together with a 
natural glue. Aversion to light is the common 
character of the whole tribe. All the species are 
not social, nor do they all exhibit the constructive 
instinct. The solitary ones simply destroy the 
bodies in which they take up their abode, and are 
to be traced by their perforations in books, and in 
closely packed and dry substances. Some of the 
perforating Termites, as they gnaw away wood, fill 
up the interstices with clay, tempered to an exceed- 
ing degree of hardness. The internal part of the 
timber perforated by this kind may be said to be 
transformed from wood to stone. One species uses 
red clay, another black earth, and a third woody 
materials. They adopt expedients to secure them- 
selves against the attacks of the tree ants, the For- 
micidcB. As these would enter any breach of their 
