Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-11-11

,trary, avoid it and carefully conduct all
their operations under cover, so that the
injury they are doing is seldom discov-
cred until nearly or quite accomplished
In the course of a single night they will
consume the entire woodwork of a build
ing. They perforate the floor, the beams,
the furniture and every article and utensil
Of wood in the house, leaving all stand
ing apparently intact but in reality a
mere shell, with the substance wholly eat
en- out. The chairs remain as placed the
night before, but fall in pieces as one sits
upon them; tho staircase drops at the first
football upon it, and the un.s~-s that sup
port roof and wall crumble at blow.
Mr.. Smeathman, who wrote a full &C
count of the termites of Southern Africa
toward the close of the last century, gives
the history Of mahogany box that he
left IN the Government stores at Tobago,
w. |. On opening the case il was discov-
cred that colony Of termites had domes-
ticated themselves within and devoured
everything but the glass and the metal.
Their cells were built up ali around the
pedestal Of the microscope. After the
substance Of the nests was taken from the
lenses, there remained cloud of gum
my nature that was very hard to remove,
while the FURNISH with which the brass
work was covered was totally spoiled. In
the same store another colony Of termites
had attacked cask of Madeira wine and,
n IntplU cto of
nearly pipe of fine old wine.
1t is related that an engineer surveying
in Brazil, where the termites are trouble
some, once left a trunk on a table over
night. The next morning the entire con-
tents of the box were found to be destroyed.
The clothing was drilled full of small
holes; the papers were cut into bits not an
inch square; the black-lead pencils were
utterly demolished; and some silver coins
were spotted with black, corroding stains
that it was impossible to remove. Accord
ing to Humboldt, the ravages of the ter
mites are so great in Central America that
it is exceedingly rare to find books and
manuscripts that have survived fifty or
sixty years. Nothing escapes these terri
BILE pests that can be demolished by their
formidable jaws.
There are two species of termites inhab-
iting the south of Europe: the Termes
5uc@fuqus, brilliant black insect with
russell legs, and the Ternnes ,fa0jcozzas, com
monty called the yellow-necked white ant.
Neither species is known to do any harm
to human habitations, but the latter lives
in the interior of trees, and makes good
deal of mischief to the olive and other val
liable trees in Spain and France. Toward
the end of the last century species of
termite made its appearance at La Rochelle,
in France, and, multiplying with great
rapidity and creating immense destruction
of property, filled the inhabitants of the
region with dismay. Many houses in the
towns in the basin of the Charente which
the termites invaded have been com pletely
undermined.by them. The miners, in ac-
cordance with their habit, construct covered
galleries by means of which they advance
upon a building without danger of dis
covery. The galleries are made of agglu-
tinated material, and are carried along the
walls in cellars and other apartments, and
are even suspended from the roof like
stalactites. Instances have been known
where these galleries or tubes have de-
scended from the ceiling to the floor of a
cellar without extraneous support. NJ
Bobe-Moreau states that he has seen the
galleries thrown horizontally forward like
a tubular bridge, in order to afford COM
munication with some desirable point.
One species Of termites, the Tern.es far
apes, dwells in the United States, extend
ing as far north as Massachusetts. 1t may
be found under stones and fallen timbers,
beneath which its burrows extend into the
ground. The workers of this species are
white, with yellow heads, and the other
classes are brown. 1t dwells in colonies
of hundred or more in the labyrinth of
subterranean galleries and chambers
which it excavates. In the center of its
nest, we'll guarded in their cell, dwell the
royal pair that, as in the case with other
termites, found and perpetuate the com
munity. This species can be accused of
no harm thus far beyond some destruction
of vines by consuming their roots-Ch5-
cag0 Tribune.
40