The record-union., 1896-11-30
CASTIRON DIGESTIONS.
White Ants Which Ruin Cables and
Gnaw Into Metals.

ACCORDING 10 an interesting state
ment from our Paris correspondent,
says the London STANDARD" the
swamps Of Tonquin have proved fatal
| even to telegraphic cables. Professor
Bouvier has been describing to the
Academy of Sciences how the insects in
that undesirable possession have been
| embarrassing the engineers. 1t ap-
pears that a wire was laid in TOnquin
in the year 1894. AS the ground was
| marshy it was made up into cable, as
If for submarine purposes The cop
per wires were surrounded with an in
sulating material-probably gutta per-
cha--and this was inserted in an en-
velope of cotton and jute. By way of
making everything secure 1t was in
closed within a leaden pipe. But, hard
ly had a year gone by when the cable
showed signs of being defective, and
last spring it was found necessary to
replace it. The protecting envelope had
| been pierced again and again by the at
tacks Of termites, and it's insulation de-
stroyed.
These termites, or white ants. are the
pests Of many tropical countries. Ger
tainly the wise king, had he thought of
them, would never have sent the slug
gard to the ant for a moral lesson. An
excess Of energy may be more mischiev-
Gus than the spirit of rest and be
thankful" Perhaps, however, as Solo
mon Is said to have been an adept in
natural history, he would have replied
that he was not responsible for the mis-
nomers of future generations; the de-
CT two for i. in, fo ~
ant and has no real connection at all
with that model of brisk yet patient in
dustry. Indeed, they are generally put
SO far apart as to be classed in different
orders; but in many Of their habits the
termites resemble the true ants. Some
species build cone-lke mounds, raising
them to hight Of five or six feet, and
constructing in the hard mud an elab-
crate system of chambers and galleries.
Others burrow into the wood. These
are the terror of the householder. Posts
and beams are riddled by them; chairs
and tables are converted into a hollow
mockery, for the creatures work away
at the interior, leaving the outside un-
disturbed.
The termite is not very particular as
to what it attacks. Though soft
bodied creature, it's jaws seem to be
fairly hard. Not only furniture, but
also books, papers, clothing. cordial
most anything about house, except the
bricks and the mortar, the States and
| the glass-are food for it's ravenous
NAV. The copper in the French cable,
| of course, was too much for it, though
| Professor Bouvier stated that leaden
bullets sent to the Crimea during the
war were perforated by some insect;
but the wire became worthless when it's
| insulation was destroyed. The leaden
| pipe, however, presented no difficulty
| Probably it was but roughly laid, being
only meant for general purposes Of pro-
| lection. Chinks would occur here and
there, and an army of termites would
| soon effect a lodgment within the forti-
| fication. The rope and the gutta percha
| they would not find much to their taste,
| and be no more affected by the passing
current than are the birds which perch
on the overhead wires.
| The termite, no doubt, has It's assail-
| ants. such as spiders and toads, lizards,
| goat-suckers and bats. We imagine
| that in Tonquin people must look al
most affectionately even on the first
two of these, but the insects increase
and multiply SO fast-for the female is
regular egg-laying machine-that it
Will be many a day before these de-
structive little creatures disappear from
tropical countries. Submarine cables
have been attacked by the teredo and
other boring creatures. but these can be
defeated by sundry devices, one being
to prepare the rope with solution in
which fine sand is mixed: but the ter
mite would probably be able to deal
even with this. Professor Bouvier ad-
vises the use Of sulphate Of copper; II
the cable be STEPPED In this, he believes
even the termite will decline 1t as an ar
| ficla NJ 5faf