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It was, certainly, a fortunate circumstance that the ant-hill had been abandoned by the termites. With a few thousands of these ants, it would have been uninhabitable. But, had it been evacuated for some time, or had the voracious newroptera but just quitted it? It was not superfluous to ponder this question.
The specially communal, including the ants, bees, termites, and beavers, are those in which there is almost a total loss of individuality, each member working for the good of the community as a unit, not for its personal advantage. The result consists in organized industries, division and specialization of duties, a common home, food stock, etc.
I confess it, I never was so horrified before. My late encounter with the lion was nothing to compare with it. "My first impression was that I would be destroyed by the termites. I had heard of such things I remembered that I had. It was that, no doubt, that frightened me so badly. I had heard of men in their sleep being attacked by the white ants, and bitten to death.
In proportion as their reasonable suspicions increased, the termites would carefully avoid all doubtful looking mantises; but, at the same time, they would only succeed in making the mantises which survived their inquisition grow more and more closely to resemble the termite pattern in all particulars.
If attention be directed to the mass in motion, it will be observed that flanking it on each side throughout its whole length are stationed a number of horned soldier termites, whose duty it is to protect the labourers, and to give notice of any danger threatening them.
Perhaps the puma would not notice him as yet he had not. No doubt he would have done so, had there been nothing else on the spot to take off his attention; but just as he came into the open ground, his eyes fell upon the ant-eaters, where they lay squatted and licking up the termites.
Which latter conjecture seemed certainly to support the theory that the soldier termites were not trying to help their fallen monarch, but were trampling and slashing it to death in an effort to devour it!
It is true that it has much to do with his later development, but we shall see that the statement that man was from the start a social being is not at all warranted by the facts. On the other hand, it may be pointed out that the ants and termites had appeared in the Mesozoic.
In this store-room Cousin Benedict collected a certain quantity of particles of gum and the juices of plants, scarcely solidified, which proved that the termites had lately brought them from without. "Well, no!" cried he. "No!" as if he were replying to some contradiction, "No, this ant-hill has not been long abandoned." "Who says to the contrary, Mr. Benedict?" said Dick Sand.
In another group in this Order, namely, the Termites or white ants, both sexes at the time of swarming may be seen running about, "the male after the female, sometimes two chasing one female, and contending with great eagerness who shall win the prize." Houzeau, 'Les Facultes Mentales, etc. See an interesting article, 'The Writings of Fabre, in 'Nat. Hist.
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