iqS 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



A CHAT ABOUT WORMS. 

 By the Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S. 



WHEN a famous naturalist presented the public 

 a few years ago with a volume entirely 

 devoted to the doings of earth-worms, a cry of 

 surprise was heard on every hand. We never 

 thought that so much could be said about a worm ! 

 Those who think that Darwin knew all that could be 

 known about these despised creatures will probably 

 regard us with suspicion, if we say that he only 

 touched the very fringe of a great and entrancing 

 subject, and that his knowledge was limited to the 

 habits of one or two species out of a vast number, 

 every one of which has just as much to teach us, if 

 only we were as willing and able to learn as Darwin 

 was. I can imagine a good many people who think 

 they have some scientific information, telling us that 

 they did not know we had more than two or three 

 species of worms in England, and that their appear- 

 ance and habits are so similar that when you know 

 something about the commonest you have a key to 

 everything worth knowing. Such was the state of 

 our information only a very few years ago, and it is 

 only within very recent years that we have been 

 made aware of the existence, both at home and 

 abroad, of an enormous number of species of 

 Annulosa, or earth-worms, and their allies. There 

 are still undoubtedly scores of worms undiscovered, 

 for in the vast Empire of China, the Continent of 

 Africa, the untrodden wastes of Australia, and the 

 unexplored regions of many lands near and far, there 

 must be hidden under the soil myriads of creatures 

 whose very existence we have never suspected. 

 Every year new discoveries are being made, and 

 even in our own country the helminthologist is 

 able from time to time to whet his appetite for 

 further exploration, by turning up an undescribed 

 species. Although many new indigenous species 

 cannot well be expected to reward the search of the 

 worm-collector at home, the ever-increasing acreage 

 of glass and greenhouse, with the constant introduction 

 of new plants from little known regions of the globe, 

 afford favourable opportunities for worm-study to 

 those who have the good fortune to be able to visit 

 conservatories and hot-houses whenever they please. 



It may be asked, where shall we find materials for 

 the study of worms, and how shall we' know them 

 when found ? In reply to the first question it may 

 be stated that there is scarcely a place where they 

 may not be found. 



If we take the worms in their widest sense, as 

 corresponding with the Annelida, we may say that 

 they are to be found almost everywhere. Some are 

 found attached to marine algas {Spirorbis), or building 

 their calcareous homes on the shells of the mollusca 

 (Scrpula), throwing up their tubes here and there 

 along the sea coast ( Terebella), or in large masses at 

 low water mark {Sabcllaria), bufrrowing in the sands 



down to mid-tides {Arcnicola) or in meadows, 

 pastures or the open country (Lumbricus), lying 

 under stones in streams {Allolobophora), or on the 

 margins of ponds and locks (AHitrus), and enjoying 

 the fat living of a manure heap {Brandling), or 

 surprising the florist in his greenhouse (Megascolex), 

 not to mention other localities or genera. As I have 

 found the whole of these during a single season in 

 Cumberland, I am not holding out any false hopes to 

 the young naturalist when I say that, if he has the 

 pleasure of living within reach of the sea-shore, he 

 may in one year collect typical specimens of all the 

 principal genera of British Annelids. It may be 

 remembered that they are about equally divided 

 between sea and land, and that of the inland species 

 a goodly number are partial to paludal situations — 

 lying under stones or in the mud. 



Now comes the tug of war. How can I determine 

 my captures ? This, it must be admitted, is not 

 always easy ; but then all real research involves 

 some amount of labour, and sometimes of disappoint- 

 ment. Let us say, however, that it is always best to 

 begin with the well-known, and proceed to the less 

 known or altogether unknown. Many books dealing 

 with the subject in a partial manner are available, 

 but the student must always fall back more or less 

 upon his own resources. For example, the Lug- 

 worm {Arcnicola piscatornm) of the sea-shore is so 

 well known that when once seen in a book or in 

 a state of nature it will never be forgotten, and as 

 every fisherman along our sandy shores digs this 

 creature out for bait, it is always possible to procure 

 it in abundance. The little coiled up shells or tubes, 

 again, which are found encrusting almost every bit 

 of dead sea-weed cast up on our shores, are so well- 

 known {Spirorbis nantiloidcs, Link, and S. lucidus, 

 Mont.) that they will occasion no difficulty. It is 

 when he comes to the worms which build no homes, 

 and at first sight have no distinctive characters, that 

 the student meets his real difficulties. 



Let us confine ourselves to what are best under- 

 stood as earth-worms. Here we have at the outset 

 for our guidance the common Lumbricus, whose form 

 and habits are familiar to every one. Whether we dig 

 in the garden, mow the lawn, or plough the field, 

 whether we watch the birds in search of their break- 

 fast, or ourselves seek the worm as a bait for fishing, 

 we recognise the common worm without difficulty, 

 although we should not find it an easy matter to 

 specify what are the "signs "by which we identify 

 it. A little careful attention to its external structure, 

 however, will afford us certain characters which will 

 be useful. We observe the number, position and 

 shape of the bristles or hairs which exist on each of 

 the body segments ; the position and appearance of 

 the mouth and clitellum (Fig. 93), the colour of the 

 creature when clean, as well as the general form of the 

 entire animal. If we descend to microscopical 

 details, we pass beyond the region of what is popular, 



