HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



121 



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Mimmmmwmwimms 



THE HABITS, FOOD, AND USES OF THE EARTH-WORM. 



{Lumbricus terrestris. ) 

 BY PROFESSOR PA LEY, M.A. 



F there is a creature of 

 tolerably large size 

 which one would be 

 disposed at first sight 

 to place lower than 

 most others in the scale 

 of creation, it is the 

 common lob - worm. 

 To an unobserving eye 

 a very simple organism 

 without any particular 

 head or tail, and possessing only a slightly rough and 

 bristly body of tubular form, composed of contractile 

 rings — from which the class it belongs to is called 

 arinelidae— it is regarded by most people as a rather 

 u gl>'j but harmless, wriggling thing, slimy and disagree- 

 able to touch, unsightly to look at, and about as 

 destitute of interest as anything that lives and moves 

 and has an independent existence. But all this is 

 founded on a false estimate, and the false estimate 

 is, as usual, founded on ignorance. The lob-worm 

 may almost be called a clever and intelligent creature ; 

 very shy indeed of letting its mode of action be seen, 

 but showing by certain results, which readily come 

 under our observation, that it has instincts which fall 

 very little short of reasoning and design. And yet 

 this creature has "no eyes, nor any other organs of 

 special sense that are known."* 



There are difficulties in ascertaining the habits of 

 the lob-worm, first, from its timidity and watchful- 

 ness, next, from its rarely appearing on the surface 

 except at night, thirdly, from its operations being 

 conducted almost entirely under ground. It is im- 

 mediately conscious of the tread of an approaching 

 foot, or of the least tremor of the earth, such as is 

 caused by digging or any garden-work. In these 

 cases it acts in two apparently opposite ways. If a 

 stick or a spade be thrust deep into rich garden-soil, 

 in which large lob-worms generally abound, and 

 moved to and fro, several of them will crawl out of 

 their holes, even at the distance of a yard, and wriggle 



No. 162. 



Huxley. 



about on the surface. In this way the extraordinary 



elasticity of the creature may be seen. It can stretch, 

 itself out to more than twice its natural length, and its 

 power of locomotion consists in its turnings and 

 twistings, its grasp of the earth by its short stiff 

 bristles, and by forming its head into a kind of hook 

 or anchor, and then dragging its body towards it. 

 But if, walking gently, and towards evening, you 

 chance to see a worm partly out of its hole, it will 

 immediately retire into it. Blackbirds and thrushes 

 may be watched pulling long writhing worms out of a 

 grass-plot, and devouring them; but if you walk 

 across the same grass you will not find a single one. 

 The reason is, that the light hop of the bird does not 

 warn the worm of its approach; the bird sees just the 

 head protruding, and by a dexterous clip and jerk he 

 extracts the delicate morsel, and bolts it whole — alive 

 and kicking. 



The lob-worm has a singular habit of filling up the 

 entrance of its hole with fallen leaves, bits of stick or 

 straw, feathers, or any small and light objects — it is 

 rather fond of bits of string — that it finds near. If it 

 cannot get these, it piles up a little hillock of pebbles 

 or small bits of lime, cinder, &c. Why it does this 

 it is not easy to make out. Possibly it is to allow the 

 passage of air into the hole, and yet to prevent the in- 

 trusion of insects, such as beetles, or ants, which 

 would give it as much trouble and annoyance* as a 

 ferret gives to a rabbit in its burrow. For if it were 

 solely for purposes of food, which fallen leaves or seeds 

 of trees might be, and apparently are, the worm 

 would not draw in such indigestible delicacies as 

 string or feathers. Perhaps they pull in anything that 

 they find soft and yielding, and make trial of its 

 edible qualities at their leisure. Whatever be 

 the reason, the holes are carefully stopped up in the 

 way I have described. This seems, indeed, rather 

 stupid; because a knowing bird may regard the tufts 

 upon worm-holes as so many points for attack; but 



* In Mr. Taylor's " Half-hours in the Green Lanes," a slug 

 {Tcstacelia haliotideci) is described as " the terror of the com- 

 mon earth-worm" (p. 211). 



G 



