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- Prof. LEIDY remarked that in seeking small animals beneath stones and fragments of wood in our forests, observing the very common White Ant, Termes flavipes, he noticed that the intestine of the insect, seen in the translucent abdomen, was distended with brown matter. Feeling curious to learn the exact nature of this matter, he was surprised to find that it consisted largely of infusorial and other parasites, mingled with minute particles of decayed wood. In many instances the parasites are so numerous as to make up the greater portion of the bulk of the intestinal pulp. Every individual he had examined, of workers, soldiers, and winged forms, was infested with the parasites, which may be estimated by millions. (en)
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