_In the Philippine Islands_, ambogues, a strong, durable wood, suffers much from the termites. Sir John Bowring, in his work on these islands, thus writes of the ravages of the white ants in the town of Obando, Province of Bulacan, Philippine Islands: “It appears that on the 18th March, 1838, the various objects destined for the services of the mass, such as robes, albs, amices, the garments of the priests, &c., were examined, and placed in a trunk made of the wood called ‘narra’ (_Pterocarpus palidus_). On the 19th they were used in the divine services, and in the evening were restored to the box. On the 20th some dirt was observed near it, and, on opening it, every fragment of the vestments and ornaments of every sort were found to have been reduced to dust, except the gold and silver lace, which were tarnished with a filthy deposit. On a thorough examination not an ant was found in any other part of the church, nor any vestige of the presence of these voracious destroyers; but five days afterwards they were discovered to have penetrated through a beam 6 inches thick.” The red ant _in Batavia_ (north-west end of Java) is another devastator. The red ant contains formic acid (acid of ants) and a peculiar resinous oil. Thunberg[26] has found cajeput effectual in destroying the red ants of Batavia: he used it to preserve his boxes of specimens from them. When ants were placed in a box anointed with this oil, they died in a few minutes. _In Surinam_, Guiana, several species of worms are produced in the palm-trees as soon as they commence to rot: they are called “groo-groo,” and are produced from the spawn of a black beetle; they are very fat, and grow to the size of a man’s thumb. The groo-groo will very quickly destroy wood which has commenced to rot. _In Surinam_, Captain Stedman[27] was obliged to drive nails into the ceiling of his room, and hang his provisions from the nails; he then made a ring of dry chalk around them, very thick, which crumbled down the moment the ants attempted to pass it. In Guiana, the young ants will swim across a small pool of water to get at sugar; some get drowned, the rest get the sugar. _In Japan_, according to Kœmpfer,[28] ants do considerable damage to wood. _In Senegal_, the ant (_Termite belliqueux_) is a formidable agent of destruction. In a season, all the carpentry of a house is destroyed by them. Spartimann, in his ‘Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope,’[29] gives an excellent account of their methods of working. The _Termite lucifuge_ has been discovered in the environs of _Bordeaux_, in the pine-trees; also in the marine workshops at _Rochefort_. It is believed to have been imported from America. The _Termite flavicole_, a few years since, attacked the olive-trees of _Spain_, and it occasionally visits the centre of _France_.