HARJDWICKE-S SCIENCE-G OSSIF. 



SI 



in the hills around Glyon. The walnut tree does 

 well in Swiss lowlands ; the largest I have seen are 

 in the public walk at Interlaken, and there 

 was lately one at Bex that three men could just 

 encircle with outstretched arms. A poplar, nine feet in 

 circumference, stands sentinel over the high perched 

 church of Cloet, and the largest of four enormous 

 poplars, in the He de Rousseau at Geneva, measures 

 fifteen feet in circumference. I have never seen so 

 fine a row of plane-trees as at Annecy, nor larger 

 pollard plane-trees than at Geneva. One of those 

 in the Place Bellaire is nearly twelve feet in girth. It 

 was there, I was told, that Calvin burnt Servetus. 

 The only historic tree I have heard of in Switzerland 

 is the lime-tree of Fribourg. The men of Fribourg, 

 at the battle of Morat, put branches of lime in their 

 hats, and one of the victors hastened to tell the 

 victory to his townsmen, and, before dying, he had 

 only strength to raise aloft tlie lime branch, which 

 was planted on the 22nd of June, 1476. 



In 1S80 I spent the la^t fortnight of August at 

 Rosenlaui and Grindelwald, and I was struck by the 

 absence of animal life, particularly in the former place. 

 Fir woods are known to be silent woods, but I saw 

 neither birds, nor rabbits, nor game of any kind ; and 

 artists could sit out all day without being bothered 

 with the plague of midges, gnats, or flies. 



EARTHWORMS AND THE GROWTH OF 

 SOIL. 



By G, H. KiNAHAN, M.R.S.I. 



AMONG the readers of Science-Gossip there 

 are evidently a large number of observers, and 

 I may suggest that some of them should turn their 

 attention to the growth of soil. 



I have been studying the growth of soil for years, 

 and already have published some of the facts that I 

 have collected (Geol. Mag., vol, vi. 1869, pp. 263 

 and 348, "Valleys and their Relations to Fissures," 

 &c. appendix p. 223, *' Geology of Ireland," chap. 

 vii. page 287) which give results very different from 

 those put forward by Dr. Darwin in his recently 

 published work, "Vegetable Mould and Earth- 

 worms." 



In Ireland undoubtedly vegetable growth and decay 

 aids far more in the growth of soil than the worms ; 

 while worms and ants will not work together in the 

 same place ; and I strongly suspect that if survey 

 were made of the Irish lands where a portion of the 

 soil is due to the work of woniis, and of the Irish 

 lands where a portion of the soil is due to ants, the 

 area of the latter would , be equal to, if it did not 

 exceed, that of the former. 



It appears to me remarkable that such a pains- 

 taking and acute observer as Doctor Darwin should 

 have so entirely overlooked "ant work" when their 

 work is so conspicuous. Look at the mound they will 



build up, or the spaces they will cover over with soil 

 during one season ! or how rapidly large stones on 

 the surface are buried ! Darwin, indeed, has called 

 attention to this burying of surface stones, but gives 

 all the credit to worms, although under some of the 

 stones that were more deeply buried he only found 

 ants. My experience, however, is that, if you turn 

 over the large stones on the surface of grass-land, 

 nearly invariably all the more deeply-buried stones 

 are those that have ants alongside or under them, 

 while many of the stones still loose have a network 

 of worm burrows under them. 



Darwin lays great stress on the size of the worm 

 casts in India, but what are they compared with the 

 ant-hills of England, Ireland, or Scotland ? — a mere 

 bagatelle — while they are mere flea-bites when com- 

 pared with the ant-hills of Asia, &c. 



Points of interest in reference to worms, to be 

 examined into, are, 



1. Do worms in growing grass (that is, grass from 

 four to twelve inches or more high) burrow at all ? 

 To me it would appear that the major portions are in 

 the roots of the grass, close to the surface of the 

 ground. 



2. After rain in summer do not the worms come 

 out to feed as freely in the day as at night ? Ducks 

 appear to believe in this, as they would just as soon 

 go looking for worms after a shower of rain as in the 

 morning. 



3. How do worms travel ? and is it due to their 

 mode of travelling that on certain mornings so many 

 of them are found dead in certain places ? 



4. If you dig a deep trench or pit, how is it that 

 often after a shower or a wet night you will find worm 

 casts at the bottom of it ? 



5. How is it that if a callow or meadow is flooded 

 all the winter, in the spring, when the water is taken 

 off, and the grass begins to grow, worms appear ? 

 They can scarcely have remained in the ground, 

 because if you open drains across the callow when you 

 take the water off it, you will not find worms. 



Other more or less interesting and undecided ques- 

 tions in regard to worms, will suggest themselves to 

 any one who takes up their study. 



Parrots. — I heard a queer tale of a parrot lately. 

 He belonged to a medical dispenser at a London 

 institution, and lived in the infirmary. His master 

 had, alas ! a sad failing, one that eventually cost him 

 his appointment. He drank. Parrots, some say, never 

 do drink even water, but this is a mistake. l\Iy parrot 

 enjoyed water greatly. However, this especial 

 doctor's parrot after a time invariably saluted his 

 master in the following way: "Here's the doctor 

 drunk again ; drunk again — the doctor." The bird 

 had heard some of the officials or patients express 

 themselves in the above forcible, if not refined 

 language. — Helen E. Watney. 



