238 
WORKERS IN THE DARK. 
Various names have been bestowed upon them; among others, that 
of termites: and again, that of wood-ants,—a designation not very 
accurate, for the ants are their enemies, and their body, being ex¬ 
ceedingly soft, is exactly the opposite of the dry hard body of the ant. 
They have been also called wood-lice; and they seem, in truth, a 
soft and feeble kind of vermin, which are crushed without resistance. 
Magnificent irony of Creation, which thus exalts the humblest forms of 
life! The Memphis, the Babylon, the true Capitol of the insects, is built 
—by whom ? By lice ! Though their luxury of jaws, and their four 
stages of teeth, make them admirable rodents, nevertheless, if we except 
their elite , the soldiers, they have no important weapons. Their teeth, 
made to gnaw, are powerless in combat. The destiny of the termites 
is plain; spite of the formidable names which have been given to 
their species ( bellicosus , mordax, atrox ), they are simply workers. 
Every other insect is stronger than they are; or at least harder, 
better protected, and more completely armed. All, especially the ants, 
hunt them, and devour them by myriads. Birds greedily pursue them ; 
the poultry-yards absorb them in frightful quantities. All (even man, 
who cooks them) find them of an agreeable taste; and the negro can 
never be satiated with them. 
They work without seeing their work. They have no eyes, at 
least none which are visible. Very probably, the darkness in which 
they live destroys their ocular organs, as is the case with a species of 
duck found in the subterranean lakes of Carinthia. The rare species 
of termites which venture forth into the daylight have very conspicu¬ 
ous and perfectly formed eyes. 
The darkness and the persecution to which they are exposed under 
the light, seem to have developed their singular industry. Against that 
world of day which shows them so bitter a hostility, they have built, 
as they have been able, this little world of the shadows, in which they 
exercise their arts. They issue forth only in search of food, and the 
gum and other substances of which they make their magazines. 
Their attachment is extreme for these cities of darkness. They 
defend them obstinately. The first blow that is given each resists in 
his own fashion; the workmen plastering the interior with a kind of 
