White Ants Research Articles

The Effect of Diode Laser on The Life and Appearance of White Ant (Psammotermes hypostoma)

This work focused on studying effect of diode laser on external appearance of white ants, and finding the percentage of mortality resulting from this beam of (650nm),(5mW),exposure times (60,70,80,90,100)sec at (3,5)cm for each exposure. The results recorded showed a clear increase in death rates, and increase in deformations as laser exposure times increased (higher percentage at lower distance), where laser was used to capture results of this therapeutic effect after passage time periods (12,24,48,72)hours. These results, show laser thermal effects resulting from its interaction with tissues, thermal propagation leads to ravage to the structures, thus to an increase death rates.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND MEDICINAL IMPORTANCE OF EUCALYPTUS TREES: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Pollution is a great issue of the environment that is gaining global attention currently because industrial development has disturbed the ecosystem of the world and depleting the ozone. It has resulted in global warming and increased the temperature, which has changed the climate at different levels globally. According to a world report, about 25% of forest land is required for ecosystem favourability. There are so many trees which are grown in the world. Among these trees, Eucalyptus is very popular and was first grown in Australia. This plant has both economic and health benefits. Pharmacologists converted this plant into medicine for different health disease control in the world. Essential Oil squeezed from the leaf and bark of the tree and leaves also possess great benefits. The well-known diseases are blood pressure, diabetes, Arthritis, plague, Cough etc., while it is also used for mosquitoes, termites, and white ants control. The plant also has its disadvantage; it decreases the water table and disturbs the tube well system. Those plants need much water, so they compete with other plants in the area and affect the size of the plant. The major objective was to review the socio-economic and medicinal value of the eucalyptus tree. Total 19 articles were downloaded from the net and reviewed in depth. The result indicates that the Eucalyptus tree has many socio-economic and medicinal values

Socio-Economic and Medicinal Review of Eucalyptus Tree in the World

Now a day pollution is a great issue of the environment of the world and It is the voice of the world community to save the world from pollution because the industrial development has disturbed the ecosystem of the world and depleting the ozone. It has created the problem of global warming and increased the temperature which has changed the climate at different level of the world. According to world report about 25% forest land is required for ecosystem favorability. There are so many trees which are grown in the world. Among these trees Eucalyptus is very popular and which was first grown in Austrilia. This plant has many importances. Seeing to its importance the present study was arranged. The major objective was to review socio-economic and medicinal value of eucalyptus tree in the world. Total 22 articles were downloaded from the net and reviewed in depth. The result indicates that Eucalyptus tree has many socio economic and medicinal values in the world. Majority rural farmer grow this plant at those places which are unfertile and barren and have less value, so they level the land with the help of shawal and tractor. They planted trees of eucalyptus on their boundaries and crops on the plain land. They get more production of wood and crop and increase per ha yield. It is also noted in the review that price level is Rs.500 to Rs.1000 in Pakistan of per tree but the price fluctuation is existed in the world. The government sometimes grows this tree on the river on the road for decoration and beautification in the world. Now a day the Shesham tree has replaced by eucalyptus plant due to more white ants attacks in the irrigated area. Different distances are used for eucalyptus plant which produce different amount of wood in the world. The recommended distance are 1.5x1.5 square meters, 2.25x2.25 square meter and 3x3 square meters. The distance affect the diameter of the tree and amount of the wood. The less distance total amount of wood is more than the large distance but the diameter of the trunk is less of the less distance. Majority farmer grow this plant on the water logging area which squeeze the water from the water logging farm and after few years the water log has been removed. Similarly eucalyptus tree has medicinal value and Pharmacologist converted to this plant into medicine for different health disease control in the world. Oil is squeezed from its leaf and bark of the tree and leaves are boiled in the water and as a tea are used in the world. The well known diseases are blood pressure, diabetes, Arthritis, plague, Cough etc while it is also used for mosquitoes, termites and white ants control. Similarly this plant has also disadvantages in the world. Its squeezes the water from the earth and decrease the water table and disturbs the tube well system of the world. This plant needs more water so they compete with other plants in the area and affect the size of the plant. The root of this plant goes very deep which also affect the plain land of the farmer and sometime affect the growth of the other plants and decrease the production of the crop. This plant has many diseases. Among these diseases the well known disease is the leaf spot which is controlled by Heptachlor. On the basis of problems the study recommend that to grow mostly this plant on the water log area; Each government of the world should established a research station for uplifting this plant in the area; Heptachlor should be mixed in soil before planting in the world; Grow this plant in those area where the attack of termites and whites ants are more; Furniture industry should be developed in the area; Plantation skill training by forest department to farming community is required; Always care the poor people of the community because sometime they banned for cutting the wood for the purpose of the fuel; Discussion with community is required by project staff before starting any project in the area; Marketing system should be developed for eucalyptus tree selling in the area; Medical testing research laboratories should be established in the area for eucalyptus tree analysis; Pharmacy expert should be present in the project area for analysis of medicinal value; For project approval IRR, NPV and Benefit cost ratio should be checked for short and long run for project approval by project committee; Also care the destination of the future generation when planting the eucalyptus tree in the area. Testing of the plant of soil is necessary before plantation of eucalyptus plant in any area.

Insect Pests Associated With Ornamental Plants


 The experiment was conducted during winter season 2014-15 at Sindh Agriculture University Nursery, Tandojam, Pakistan. Five ornamental plants viz; ixora, chrysanthemum, vine, sunflower and jasmine were kept under observation. Collection was done once a week through in situ and sweep net methods. Data was collected by examining 10 randomly selected plants of each ornamental plant species. The collected specimens were brought in the laboratory and identified at species level. The results indicated that there were 24 insect species found active on the ornamental plant species during study period. However, aphid, shield bug, flower feeder, white ant, whitefly, red spider mite and mealy bug were found the most active on Ixora. Aphids, leaf miner, flower feeder, green grass hopper, midges, earwigs and whitefly were found associated with Chrysanthemum. Similarly, aphid, blister mite, mealy bug, midges, red mite and whitefly were found active on vine ornamental creeper. The insects found active on sunflower were aphids, butterfly, green grass hopper, hairy caterpillar, head borer, leaf hopper, midges, ground beetle, red spider mite and white ants. Jasmine plant harboured red spider mite, whitefly, jasmine bug, leaf hopper, white ant and green grass hopper. Among beneficial insects such as predators, pollinators and parasitoids, the green lacewing, honey bee, hoverfly, Trichogramma, praying mantis, zigzag beetle and Tachinid fly were the active insects on all ornamental plants kept under observation. Aphids were found frequently occurring on most of the ornamental plants.
 

WHITE ANTS, EMPIRE, AND ENTOMO-POLITICS IN SOUTH ASIA

AbstractBy focusing on the history of white ants in colonial South Asia, this article shows how insects were ubiquitous and fundamental to the shaping of British colonial power. British rule in India was vulnerable to white ants because these insects consumed paper and wood, the key material foundations of the colonial state. The white ant problem also made the colonial state more resilient and intrusive. The sphere of strict governmental intervention was extended to include both animate and inanimate non-humans, while these insects were invoked as symbols to characterize colonized landscapes, peoples, and cultures. Nonetheless, encounters with white ants were not entirely within the control of the colonial state. Despite effective state intervention, white ants did not vanish altogether, and remained objects of everyday control until the final decade of colonial rule and after. Meanwhile, colonized and post-colonial South Asians used white ants to articulate their own distinct political agendas. Over time, white ants featured variously as metaphors for Islamic decadence, British colonial exploitation, communism, democratic socialism, and, more recently, the Indian National Congress. This article argues that co-constitutive encounters between the worlds of insects and politics have been an intrinsic feature of British colonialism and its legacies in South Asia.

Perception and awareness of insects as an alternative protein source among fish farmers and fish feed traders

The perception of key players in the fish farming sector towards the use of insects is important for their acceptance to adopt insects as an alternative protein source to the expensive fish meal. Perception was established through a cross-sectional study of 208 fish farmers and 71 fish feed traders and/or processors conducted in Gulu, Tororo and Masaka districts in Uganda, using descriptive, Chi-square, correlation and factor statistical analysis of the data collected. Males dominated the fish farming and fish feed trading and/or processing enterprises. Youths were involved to almost the same extent as adults. Fish farmers majorly practiced pond fish farming, mainly using vegetable and grain based feeds. Most fish farmers (94.9%) and feed traders or processors (91.5%) were willing to use insects for feed but only 44.8% of fish farmers and 8.6% of feed traders and processors had ever used insects. All insects ever used by the respondents for feeding fish, including white ants, grasshoppers, termites and cockroaches were not reared but harvested from the environment. Willingness to use (rear/buy/sell) insects as fish feed was significantly and positively correlated with farmers’ and fish feed traders’ and/or processors’ perception that insects were good sources of nourishment for fish. Familiarity with use of insects and knowledge/awareness of their use significantly contributed to respondents’ positive perception. The apparent willingness to use insects for feeding fish should be promoted by encouraging mass insect production. Assessment of the consumer’s acceptability of fish reared on insects is necessary to ensure market for insect-fed fish.

Not just urban: The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus, is invading forests in the Southeastern USA

Coptotermes formosanus, known in its native China as the ‘House White Ant’, was introduced to the southeast USA likely in the 1950s, where it is known as the Formosan subterranean termite. In the USA it is best known as a pest of buildings in urban areas, however C. formosanus also attacks live trees along streets and in urban parks, suggesting it may be able to invade forests in the USA. A survey of 113 forest patches around Charleston South Carolina and New Orleans Louisiana, where C. formosanus was first recorded, found that 37% and 52%, respectively, were infested. Resistograph measurement of internal hollows in tree trunks in forest patches infested with C. formosanus found infested sites contained more and larger hollows compared with non-infested sites. Compared with forest patches free of C. formosanus, infested patches had 32% more trees with hollows in Charleston, and 115% more in New Orleans. Similarly, compared with patches free of C. formosanus, hollows were 2–3 times larger in infested patches in Charleston, and 2–6 times larger in New Orleans. Quercus (oak) and Acer (maple) were the most damaged trees in Charleston, whereas Carya (bitternut hickory), Taxodium (bald cypress), Nyssa (blackgum) and Liquidamber (sweetgum) were the most damaged in New Orleans. As termite damaged trees are more likely to die, these differing damage levels between tree species suggests that C. formosanus may alter community structure in US forests.

Homeland and Complexities: Identity search in Selected Mahua Literature: White Ants, Drizzle, Citizenship, and Don’t Mention It Again

Homeland and Complexities: Identity search in Selected Mahua Literature: White Ants, Drizzle, Citizenship, and Don’t Mention It Again

Interfaith Resistance in South Africa

Abstract This edited excerpt from the Rev. Dr. G. J. A. Lubbe's memoirs, titled Embraced by Grace: The Story of a White Ant, describes the formation and impact of the nonviolent interfaith movement against apartheid in South Africa. From 1984 to 1994, the year of President Nelson Mandela's election, Lubbe led the South African chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, now known as Religions for Peace. Under its organizational umbrella South Africans of various faiths crossed both theological and racial lines to oppose apartheid and later to influence the interfaith ethos of postapartheid South Africa.

The Use of Sugar Baits for the Integrated Management of Soil Arthropod Pests in Peanut (Arachis hypogaeaL.) in Ghana, West Africa

Soil arthropods cause kernel and pod damage and can lower yields of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Ghana, West Africa. On-station and on-farm experiments were conducted during 2007 and 2008 at Kwadaso and Hiawoannwu, respectively, using an improved peanut cultivar/line RRR-ICGU 88709 in a soil arthropod pests management trial. The trial included four treatments, i.e. chlorpyrifos (Dursban™) insecticide as a standard, three levels of granulated sugar as baits, and an untreated control. Soil arthropod pests observed in peanut plots during both years from the two locations were white grubs, millipedes, symphilids, termites, earwigs, and red ants while predators included centipedes and black ants. Termites and red ants were the predominant arthropod pests and predatory black ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) exceeded that of centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) in the two trial locations. The proportion of unfilled pods was high in the two locations during both years. Generally, the population of centipedes was lo...

흰개미 군집 알고리즘을 이용한 유사 블로그 추천 시스템에 관한 연구

This paper proposes a recommending system of the similar blogs gathered with similarities between blogs according to the similarity, dividing words, for each frequency, that individual blogs have. It improved the algorithm of k-means, using the model of the habits of white ants for better performance of clustering, and showed better performance of clustering as a result of evaluating and comparing with the existing algorithm of k-means as the improved algorithm. The recommending system of similar blog was designed and embodied, using the improved algorithm. TCA can reduce clustering time and the number of moving time for clustering compare with K-means algorithm.

Phenology, pollination and breeding system of Aegle marmelos (Linn.) correa (Rutaceae) from India

Studies on reproductive biology are difficult but useful in species like Aegle marmelos (Linn.) Correa which is of considerable socio-economic importance and possess morphogenetic variation and qualities of wider adaptability to different soils. Cytology, phenology, pollination, breeding system and natural regeneration of wild and cultivated trees from India revealed the existence of diploid (2n = 18) and tetraploid trees (2n = 36) in Pachmarhi hills and only diploid trees in Punjab plains and Shiwalik hills. The diploid and tetraploid trees showed normal meiosis and high pollen fertility. Phenological events which included leaf fall, leaf emergence, floral bud break, flowering and fruiting are nearly the same in wild and cultivated trees. Natural pollen transfer in the species was highly efficient. Levels of fruit set following open pollination was quite high and is reduced considerably following hand pollination probably due to some injury caused to stigma during experiments. Inspite of synchronous nature of anther dehiscence and stigmatic receptivity, selfing in a flower was avoided due to herkogamy. Some selfing, however, occurred through geitonogamous mode as bagging of panicles yielded 12.21 ± 0.99 to 14.12 ± 0.91% fruit set. High pollen ovule ratio (9,250–10,600) indicated toward the obligate outbreeding nature. The species suited to insect and wind mode of pollination. High amount of air borne pollen grains deposited on glycerine smeared glass microscopic slides suggested towards the wind mode of pollination. Though flowers are dull coloured a variety of insects visited the flowers due to sweet fragrance and stamen/pollen as food reward. Among insect pollinators, honey bee (Apis dorsata) was the major and legitimate pollinator while the rest were either minor pollinators or mere visitors. Inspite of high fruit/seed set, natural regeneration through seeds was poor as fallen fruits were destroyed by fungal pathogens and white ants. The species also propagated vegetatively through coppices and root suckers. It lacks agamospermy as bagging of emasculated flowers yielded no fruit. It is inferred that ‘bael’ which lacks agamospermy reproduced successfully through gamospermy (xenogamy and geitonogamy) and vegetative mode (coppices and root suckers). We also concluded that tetraploid trees growing in the Pachmarhi hills with large sized fruits possessed better potentialities in horticulture if planted through root suckers or coppices.

Death of an order: a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study confirms that termites are eusocial cockroaches

Termites are instantly recognizable mound-builders and house-eaters: their complex social lifestyles have made them incredibly successful throughout the tropics. Although known as 'white ants', they are not ants and their relationships with other insects remain unclear. Our molecular phylogenetic analyses, the most comprehensive yet attempted, show that termites are social cockroaches, no longer meriting being classified as a separate order (Isoptera) from the cockroaches (Blattodea). Instead, we propose that they should be treated as a family (Termitidae) of cockroaches. It is surprising to find that a group of wood-feeding cockroaches has evolved full sociality, as other ecologically dominant fully social insects (e.g. ants, social bees and social wasps) have evolved from solitary predatory wasps.

The influence of the concealed pollution sources upon the indoor air quality in houses

This report presents the results of investigations on the indoor air quality of common Japanese detached houses. It is necessary to control the emission rates from the interior materials and the ventilation rates to keep indoor concentration of VOC enough low. And it is also necessary to consider the influence of the pollution sources in the concealed spaces for better indoor air quality in some kinds of building structures and some kinds of ventilation systems. In this study the influences of the concealed pollution sources upon the indoor concentrations of pollutants were investigated using three detached houses with four ventilation systems and the following results were obtained. When the ventilation system was changed from the air-supply type to the air-exhaust type, the indoor concentrations of formaldehyde increased. The infiltration ratios: the ratios of the infiltration rate to the indoor space toward the emission rate of a pollutant in the concealed space were measured using the tracer-gas method. The ratios from the beam spaces and the partition were about 100% in most cases. The ratios from the crawl space under the first floor and the truss space under the roof were lower than those from the beam space and partitions in most cases, because those spaces have ventilation openings. But the ratio from the crawl space reached about 100% in the house without ventilation openings at the crawl space. And even in the house with ventilation openings at crawl space, the ratio reached 50% in the house with the exhaust-ventilation system. Therefore, it became clear that the use of the medicine to prevent the deterioration of the wooden structure and the white ants in the crawl spaces must be limited. The ratio from the envelope wall was changed with the pressure difference between inside and outside. These results showed that it is necessary to prevent infiltration from the concealed spaces and to control the emission rate from the concealed pollution sources.

St. Paula Among the Marigolds, and: A Letter from the Abbess Paula the Younger, and: St. Jerome's Lost Diaries, and: The Vision

(Bethlehem, 399 C.E.) St. Paula Among the Marigolds She's forsworn the life of daughter, wife, widow, and mother; she's savored the role of Christ's bride, of servant to the poor- Now, within the matrix of her convent, Paula enjoys the solace of celestial stirrings, as she moves in orbit among chaste sisters, those numinous, meek creatures who drift along the corridors like thistledown - whose silences signal a silken renunciation. [End Page 106] Their hymns' sweet notes ring in her ears, syncopating time; so, her months and years pass, a parade of spiritual devotions. One morning, as she weeds the convent garden, she looks up to see a sky of cirrus uncinus - a backdrop of mares' tails spun from delicate white filaments, curling into hooks, tufts- and suddenly, mid-breath, she feels Christ's touch upon her cheek and an abundance of grace expands her lungs until she gasps, seeing shimmering before her a dark-eyed man smiling down at her crouched form, his body so translucent, that the clouds radiating behind him permeate his fluid form- He floats before her in empty air and she is poised in rapt amazement - O stunned, O dazzled, O glorious reward- O watcher - now look - be open-eyed - be undiminished, for joy, joy! trumpets through her veins - blows her open- A Letter from the Abbess Paula the Younger The days of man are but as grass; for he flourisheth as a flower of the field. For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone: and the place thereof shall know it no more. - Psalm 103 Dearest Cousin, I have found among our deceased spiritual grandfather's effects several codices bound in twine and goat leather, and greatly damaged by the hungry meanderings of white ants, by inclement storage, and - I suspect - by secreted tears. [End Page 107] I am shocked by the stark revelations from these tawdry looking, embattled, filth-covered, embittered diaries. Apostasy threatens their author; a barbarism of the mind overcomes his wisdom, and a crucified spirit's tortured ravings infiltrate their pages. We thought we knew the man: we did not. Could not have. So much within our hearts howls for forgiveness, withers us, while Lucifer stands ever ready to entice us, to harvest our sins. Jerome's private pen stuttered and raged self-calumny, even as his public letters proved him righteous. There is too much mystery in man, as in the Eternal. Too great a hydra, this person to whom our grandmother wed her life and her soul. In them both, earthly love- that euphoria, that dread which ravishes - vied with divine love. I grew up in the humid greenhouse of their devotion. What to do with these diaries? I believe their famed author would have me burn them. Indeed, I've taken the liberty of destroying three pages which alluded to our Elder Paula serving as an agapeta to Jerome - yes, believe it! - as his priestly mistress! I also put to flame several salacious pages recounting how he lay with two licentious nuns - a triangulation of orgiastic fumblings worthy (you'd remind me) of those oversexed tales of Bacchus and of Sappho's sultry lovers on Lesbos- Scandalous such outpourings. His fantasies saddened me. [End Page 108] So the scales have fallen from my unworldly eyes. I see now, Cousin, how futilely we strive against our natures: we desire what is alien to us, otherworldly, other than ourselves- and such yearning tonsures our souls' wings. God lurks behind and beyond our mirrors- We struggle like flies to escape this vortex of sins. We live in exile from our physical bodies. Slumbering bears, we hibernate inside our deaths, dreamless, waiting to be reborn again. We stand facing God, our mouths agape. Assyrian, African, Jew and Egyptian, even the loin- clothed Brahman and chanting Buddhist of whom Jerome spoke in his letters - anchorite or centurion, Essene or harlot - what...

Chronic Disorders Brought by Pesticides to Human Bodies-with Special Reference to Impacts on Next Generation

As regards the chronic disorders brought about by pesticides to human bodies, attempts have been made to review theses that have been published both at home and abroad in the last several years on the basis of epidemiological studies. The chronic disorders that are found to have something to do with pesticides are neurological disorders (Parkinson's disease, peripheral nervous symptoms, poor coordinations and abnormal deep tendon reflexes), mental disorders (mild cognitive dysfunction and neurosis), pulmonary and bronchial disorders, hematopietic disorders (aplastic anemia), thyroid disorders, ocular disorders, immune disorders, natal disorders and birth defects (teratism, spontaneous abortion, complete transposition of the great arteries and cryptorchism), disorders in childhood growth (disorders in social development and attention deficit disorders, among others), genital disorders (reduction in fertility, erectile dysfunction (ED) and oligozoospermia), oncogenesis and carcinogenesis (childhood cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, others and pulmonary, mammary, cystic, pancreatic, and prostatic cancers).The findings of epidemiological studies do not necessarily produce casual relationships but, as identical findings have come out in many epidemiological studies, it may be argued that they produce findings the casual relationship of which is considerably suspicious. The working of pesticides as chemicals to stir incretion (the working similar to that of estrogen), the working of dioxin contained as a byproduct and the impairment of DNA have something to do with causes to chronic disorders.With not only acute poisoning by pesticides but also chronic disorders, the greatest adverse impacts fall on farmers who are directly engaged in the spraying of pesticides. When it comes to genital disorders, birth defects and tumorigenesis, among others, the spraying of insecticides and the extermination of white ants in and out of the houses ought to be taken into full account.

Emerging Evidence of Early Indian Accounting

The paper examines the extant late‐eighteenth‐century accounting record books of Kantababu, a Bengali property owner and silk trader. These annual records, in part destroyed by white ants and other insects, do not make up a complete set for more than any two Bengali solar years. Yet from the available evidence it is possible to make a case that some elements of the accounting systems used by Kantababu and his clerks have similarities to medieval and later European methods and to eleventh‐century methods used by Cairo merchants as evidenced by documents stored in the Genizah of the Old Cairo synagogue.

Snoo Wilson: Enfant Terrible of the English Stage

Snoo Wilson: Enfant Terrible of the English Stage JAMES BIERMAN Winning a coveted Bicentennial Fellowship to the United States in 1980 confinned Snoo Wilson's election to the ranks of England's most "promising" playwrights. He found himself following in the footsteps of other recipients of the award, such as David Edgar, who were then "promising" and are now enonnously successful. What preceded Snoo to California was a reputation for wildness. I asked him how he regarded that reputation. It's better than no reputation at all, but it's very distressing. I think of myself as agentle poet ofsurrealism, and it turns out that people think ofme as bringing bucketsoffilth and excrement on stage. I suppose I shall have to spend a lifetime refuting them. I Other than by reputation, Snoo is less known in America than most of the English dramatists of his generation - particularly his fellow playwrights from Portable Theatre, Howard Brenton and David Hare. The Everest Hotel, The Beast, and Vampire have had small productions in New York, and the laoer was also staged in Seattle. In general, the exposure of Snoo's work abroad has not matched his success in England. He is known to a certain extent in Australia; there has been a Gennan translation of The Soul ofthe White Ant; and Blowjob was produced successfully in Sweden. But such spotty exposure provides only a hint of the volume, range and diversity of his work. Although only thirty-two years old, Snoo has been enonnously productive, as a list of his plays (thirty-four including one in progress) indicates.' The vast majority ofhis plays have found productions, often by such prestigious theatre companies as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre, and he has become known in England as one of its major young dramatists. Given Snoo's interest in cult behavior in his work, it seems ironic that Time Out critic Steve Grant would have asserted that "his reputation has increasingly taken on the dimensions of a minor cult."3 Snoo Wilson: Enfant Terrible There are people who quite like to see my work, but I would have thought that if it were genuine truth then there would be little temples or theatres devoted to putting the plays on. But I've yet to see another production of The Glad Hand, although Bernard Levin, I hear, has been privately championing a revival. Regardless of the cult analogy, a Snoo Wilson play sports a major, though maverick, brand name, and theatres are willing to commission them frequently enough for Snoo to do almost all of his plays on commission. I write for commission because I'm always afraid of my work being run from here to there, and the idea of writing in a vacuum, I find uninviting. And I usually need the money. The desire to be desired and the need for the money go hand in hand. Also, it means that you're writing for a specific theatre and you can imagine the incident, the people and the stage. I seem to have an unfortunate history of writing a play for a theatre and, as it were, developing a relationship with them, and ata certain stage, their idealism about the play and the project collapses, and I find a theatre will accept it twelve doors down. I'm always looking for a platfonn. I get very depressed by the kind of limbo which Salvation Now is in, and The Glad Hand took me four years to finish, and it was a very depressing thing that it was shipped around endlessly. It was orginally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Commissions enable young playwrights to make a living at a trade which would probably not support them in the United States. There are people who actually do it with money from BBC and from subsidized small theatres which provide payments for a new play. So there is actually an active subsidy system which provides small amounts of money which dribble down to the people who are at the front line. Although I'm frequently frightened of not eaming enough money, I'm not entirely destitute because there are the small theatres...

German Records in the National Archives of Tanzania

The National Archives of Tanzania (Idara ya Kumbukumbu za Taifa la Tanzania) were established on 28 August 1965. Since this date energies have been directed toward building an efficient archival service: better storage facilities have been acquired, trained Tanzanian personnel have been hired, and there is now seating space for ten researchers. The most significant development from the historian's point of view has been the recent organization of the German records into a concise and convenient index catalogue. In June 1967 the West German Government Technical Aid Program sent Mr. Peter Geissler, an Archivinspektor at Hessiches Staatsarchiv, Marburg, on a two-year project to reorganize the German records. Mr. Geissler is already familiar to historians of the American Revolution for his research on the Hessian troop records at Marburg. In Deutsch-Ostafrika the old German Registry System (renewed in 1902 and in effect until 1916) had been utilized in numbering the various files. A still extant two-volume Registry lists all the documents in existence before the First World War, but many of these have since been lost, eaten by white ants, stolen, or destroyed. It is evident that only a few records concerning district political administration have survived, while land, legal, mission, public works, and education files are among the most complete. The files have been divided into two main groupings: (1) the old German Registry and other German Government Administration (G 1 - G 65); and (2) Private Archives (G 66 - G 86). Each file card contains both the new “G” number and the old German Registry designation. In addition Mr. Geissler has performed a painstaking task in listing on each card some of the outstanding names, places, etc. mentioned in the particular file.

Termites and Timber

TERMITES, or as they are commonly and erroneously called, “White Ants”, belong to the zoological class “Insects”. Insects are characterized by having in the adult state three distinct parts to the body: the head, with one pair of feelers and usually three pairs of jaws; the thorax, bearing three pairs of legs and at most two pairs of wings; and the abdomen. The class is divided into three sub‐classes, of which the termites belong to the exopterygota: insects which change, mainly by enlargement, their appearance each time they moult, the wings developing outwardly, and thus visibly, throughout the process until they are fully winged at maturity. Of the many orders of this sub‐class the termites belong to the isoptera, having two similar and almost equal pairs of wings, large heads, and powerful jaws. The order is sub‐divided, as is common in zoology, into families. There are four families of termites, one, the mastotermitidæ, is purely Australian; the other three are common throughout the tropics and named according to their degrees of development. The most primitive of the three tropical families is the protermitidae (known as kalotermitidæ in the U.S.A.); rather more advanced, the mesotermitidæ (rhinotermitidæ in the U.S.A.); and the termitidæ, the most highly developed of all. True ants belong not only to a different order, but to a different sub‐class, the endopterygota, in which the development is quite different from the termite type, they are allied closely to bees and wasps, whereas the termites are allied to cockroaches.