38 HABITS OF WORMS. Chap. I. 



The half-decayed or fresh leaves which 



worms intend to devour, are dragged into the 



mouths of their burrows to a depth of from 



one to three inches, and are then moistened 



with a secreted fluid. It has been assumed 



that this fluid serves to hasten their decay ; 



but a large number of leaves were twice 



pulled out of the burrows of worms and kept 



for many weeks in a very moist atmosphere 



under a bell-glass in my study ; and the parts 



which had been moistened by the worms did 



not decay more quickly in any plain manner 



than the other parts. When fresh leaves 



were given in the evening to worms kept in 



confinement and examined early on the next 



morning, therefore not many hours after they 



had been dragged into the burrows, the fluid 



with which they were moistened, when tested 



with neutral litmus paper, showed an alkaline 



reaction. This was repeatedly found to be 



the case with celery, cabbage and turnip 



leaves. Parts of the same leaves which had 



not been moistened by the worms, were 



pounded with a few drops of distilled water, 



and the juice thus extracted was not alkaline. 



Some leaves, however, which had been drawn 



