The Strangest Things in the World: A Book About Extraordinary Manifestations of NatureHenry, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert)
History
The Strangest Things in the World: A Book About Extraordinary Manifestations of Nature
Henry, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert)
Animal behavior; Natural history
A reef is an outstanding example of the two major divisions of
life, plant and animal, working in perfect co-operation. The actual
co-operation of plant and animal in an integrated organism is not
unique for the coral reefs. Something of the sort occurs in certain sea
worms, near the bottom of the worm family, that grow green algae in
their blood streams. These worms make some of the beaches of Normandy
grass-green in summer. The algae are necessary for their existence.
There may be a few other examples throughout the animal kingdom.
_The First Engineers—Termites_
Termite civilization probably has reached its greatest heights in
architecture and engineering. Australian mounds, built by workers out
of earth particles cemented together by a salivary gland secretion,
are steeple-shaped, as much as twenty feet high, and with bases twelve
feet in diameter. Hundreds of such structures may be scattered over
a few acres. Such an assemblage looks like a large native village,
although architecturally the structures are far beyond the abilities
of primitive man. The common type consists of a solid, hard outer
wall which has the strength of superfine concrete. It is almost
impossible to break through this material. Immediately inside are
numerous thin-walled passages and galleries. Below these, at the ground
level and about in the center, are the quarters of king and queen
and the nursery. From the mound, passages for the food foragers lead
in all directions through the soil. A mound two feet high will house
approximately two million individuals.
Long before architects, termites developed the art of air conditioning.
Proper humidity inside the nest is essential to the existence of the
soft-bodied workers. The majority of species, however, are found in
latitudes with long, dry seasons. To meet such conditions the insects
achieved humidity control in various ways still not understood. Notable
are the structures of the Australian compass termites who erect
dwellings eight to twelve feet high with flattened sides. The broad
ends always point east and west, the narrow ends north and south. These
nests are strong enough to support the stamping of wild bulls. A group
of them looks like a particularly well-constructed native village, or
the site of some extinct human civilization. Apparently the precise
orientation of the nests is associated with prevailing winds and in
some way contributes to maintaining a constant humidity.
The blind creatures seem to have developed special sense organs,
unknown to man and probably unique in the animal kingdom. One of these
is reportedly a brain barometer which is extremely sensitive to slight
humidity changes. Both soldiers and workers respond with military
precision to any threat to their neighbors. This believed due to an
extreme sensitivity to vibration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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