Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-03-23

v are told OF these termites, and the more W.
r inquire into their history, the more surprise,
/, we are They are found, as slightly differen
species, in Asia, Africa. America, and Eu
: rope The most wonderful of all are th,
, termites of the interior of Africa, who's,
! dwellings, are the pyramids of the insect
world; amazing indeed when we conside,
the size OF the creature who builds them
: Travellers tell us of nests more than twenty
feet In height, with galleries below the sur.
lace to the same depth, and filling a space OF
hundred feet in circumference The walls
oil these pyramids are made of clay. nearly
as hard as stone; quite as hard, it is said
as the cheaper bricks used in our own dwell
ings. The form is a cluster of conicaI spires,
the highest in the centre, others lower in
elevation, grown around it So strong are
the walls that the wild hunters habitually
climb them, to take an observation of the
surrounding country and the buffalo, the
heavy, unwieldly creature, makes use of
/ them for the same purpose, taking them,
probably, tor so many rocks. The surface of
these nests IS often covered with fine edible
mushrooms, and the natives eat the insects
themselves, considering them a verv great
delicacy- Some apricot jam was, on a Ger
tain occasion, offered to an African chief nv
an English traveller. 1t was good, he said
but not so good as a handful of white ants.
Lions and tigers are frequently found in
these deserted termite village. The food of
acter, especially woody fibres but if hungry
they will eat almost anything They are
indeed most formidable enemies to man and
his works, in their native haunts, from their
vast swarms, their voracity, and their treach-
erous, covert ways of working. So numerous
are the swarms issuing from their nests at
the time when the winged brood is first
hatched, that the air in the vicinity seems
6lla1 vii Npb NaIa
have been made to confne them to their
nests by building fires about them but so
eager are they to reach the outer world, that
they will rush through the flames to obtain
their object. If many perish in the attempt,
innumerable throngs succeed in the effort.
They work most treacherously under cover,
feeding on the core and heart of things, but
always leaving thin deceptive outer shell
untouched. In this way they carry on their
secret rayages unsuspected, until accident
reveals their presence.
Some years since a few of these terrible
insects were observed at la Rochelle, on the
eastern coast of France, brought there, no
doubt, by some vessel just arrived from
tropical port. One might naturally suppose
that the first cold winter-and the winters
of that part of France are often decidedly
cold-would utterly destroy these fragile
tropical invaders. Such has not been the
TteulI- 1uty uhNt not Only survivor inc
cold, but they have actually increased to
such extent as seriously to alarm the in
habitants. Vigorous efforts have been made
to exterminate them, but, as yet, without
success. They have already committed very
serious ravages. Oddly enough, like other
invaders, they have taken possession of the
public buildings of la Rochelle the Hotel
of the PrGfet is their headquarters. Here,
like other invaders, they have made them
selves completely at home. The conquest
has been complete. From the attics to the
cellars they are masters of the position. The
ceiling of bedroom was repaired the day
after the workmen left, covered galleries
made by the enemy, were discovered. drop
ping from the ceiling like stalactites. Sim
liar galleries were found in the cellars, drop .
ping halfway from the ceiling TO the floor ;
others, running along the walls beneath the I
plaster, were traced from the foundation TO .
the roof of the building. These stalaetite /
gaIlelies, looking sonas~ylat like inverted 4
adjoirsng
20 the floor. Occasionally, horizontal gal
leries, like suspension bridges, are thrown
out to reach some object desirable for food. I
or for shelter. Trees, in the garden of the
Prefecture which appeared outwardly sound, +
on examination proved to be entirely Quilted /
to the very branches? The stakes of fences
were devoured in the same way. Ifa plank
was left one night bed, the next morn
ing the insects were found to have made
Judgment within its fbres. A large beam
was so entirely eaten away that nothing re-
mains of it but thin outer shell, scarcely
more substantial than a shaving. The legs
of tables, the sides of boxes, are devOured in
the same insidious way. No wonder the
good people are very seriously alarmed at the
inroads Of these creatures. Corrosive sub
limate>is said to be the only protection for
any wooden substance, and one that is not
always successful.
One day document from the public arch
ives was wanted The box containing it
was opened all looked usual /; piles of
neatly folded papers appeared undisturbed
in regular order within but the moment
hand was laid on the outer sheet the whole
pile crumbled away TO dust All was hollow;
mere shell had been left, as usual, on the
top, and at the sides. And such, on exam
nation, proved to be the condition of other
boxes, in which the public archives had been
stored. 1t is only too clear to the invaded
Rocheltons, that the terrible white ants have
lost nothing of their ma tional activity and
voracity and treachery, by change to colder
climate. They, work, in France, surrounded
by snow and ice, which in the native haunts
Of their tribe are entirely unknown.