Chap. II. THEIR INTELLIGENCE. 75 



It may also be doubted, whether the sharp 

 ends of the needles serve to tell them that 

 this is the wrong end to seize ; for the points 

 were cut off many leaves for a length of 

 about one inch, and fifty-seven of them thus 

 treated were drawn into the burrows by 

 their bases, and not one by the cut-off ends. 

 The worms in confinement often seized the 

 needles near the middle and drew them to- 

 wards the mouths of their burrows ; and one 

 worm tried in a senseless manner to drag 

 them into the burrow by bending them. 

 They sometimes collected many more leaves 

 over the mouths of their burrows (as in the 

 case formerly mentioned of lime-leaves) than 

 could enter them. On other occasions, how- 

 ever, they behaved very differently ; for as 

 soon as they touched the base of a pine-leaf, 

 this was seized, being sometimes completely en- 

 gulfed in their mouths, or a point very near 

 the base was seized, and the leaf was then 

 quickly dragged or rather jerked into their 

 burrows. It appeared both to my son and 

 myself as if the worms instantly perceived 

 as soon as they had seized a leaf in the proper 

 manner. Nine such cases were observed, 

 but in one of them the worm failed to drag 



