

gal 


412 THE INSECT WORLD. 
easy prey to their enemies. A few couples only, picked up by the 
workers, are put under shelter, and become the nucleus of a new 
colony. The soldiers have no other occupation but to defend the 
nest. If man attacks them, at the first blow with the pickaxe, 
they are to be seen running out furiously. They attack their 
ageressors, pierce them till they bring blood, and with their sharp 
pincers hang on to the wound, and allow themselves to be torn to 
pieces rather than leave go their hold. The negroes who have no 
clothes are soon put to flight; Huropeans only get off with 
their trousers very much spotted with blood. During the 
combat, the soldiers strike from time to time on the ground with 
their pincers, and produce a little dry sound, to which the 
workers answer by a sort of whistling. The workers immediately 
make their appearance; and with their pellets of mortar set to 
work to stop up the holes, and to repair the damage. The sol- 
diers then re-enter, with the exception of a small number, who 
remain to superintend the work of the masons; they give, at 
intervals, the usual signal, and the workers answer by a whistling 
which means ‘“ Here we are!”’ as they redouble their activity. If 
the attack recommences, the soldiers are at their posts, defending 
the ground inch by inch. During this time the workers mask the 
passages, stop up the galleries, and wall up with care the royal 
cell. If you manage to penetrate as far as this sanctuary, you 
may pick up and carry away from the cell which contains them 
the precious couple without the workers in attendance on them 
interrupting their work, for they are blind. 
They never venture in sight except in extreme cases. No one 
is ignorant of the terrible destruction these insects occasion to 
the works of man. Invisible to those whom they threaten, they 
push on their galleries to the very walls of their houses. They 
perforate the floors, the beams, the wood-work, the furniture, 
respecting always the surface of the objects attacked in such a 
manner that it is impossible to be aware of their hidden ravages. 
They even take care to prevent the buildings they eat away from 
falling by fillimg up with mortar the parts they have hollowed 
out. But these precautions are only employed if the place seems 
suitable, and if they intend to prolong their sojourn there. 
In the other case, they destroy the wood with inconceivable 

