LUMBRICUS TERRESTRIS. LINN. 



COMMON EARTH WORM. 



SECTION I. 



THIS animal is from three and a half inches to 

 four and a half in length ; it possesses the power of 

 increasing and diminishing itself in a remarkable 

 degree ;* its figure is nearly cylindrical from about 

 three fourths of an inch from each extremity ; its head 

 is conical, and its tail flat, having its flattened surface 

 parallel to the horizon. This particular figure of the 

 tail is not always to be observed when it is in an active 

 state, but is uniformly to be seen when in a state of 

 torpor. Its body is composed of annular sections, the 



• When speaking of the worm, I always consider it in a mean 

 state, between the extremes of elongation and contraction. 



B 



