HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. I. 



CHAPTER I. 



HABITS OF WORMS. 



Nature of the sites inhabited Can live long under water- 

 Nocturnal Wander about at night Often lie close to the 

 mouths of their burrows, and are thus destroyed in large 

 numbers by birds Structure Do not possess eyes, but can 

 distinguish between light and darkness Retreat rapidly when 

 brightly illuminated, not by a reflex action Power of attention 

 Sensitive to heat and cold Completely deaf Sensitive to 

 vibrations and to touch Feeble power of smell Taste 

 Mental qualities Nature of food Omnivorous Digestion 

 Leaves before being swallowed, moistened with a fluid of the 

 nature of the pancreatic secretion Extra-stomachal digestion 

 Calciferous glands, structure of Calcareous concretions 

 formed in the anterior pair of glands The calcareous matter 

 primarily an excretion, but secondarily serves to neutralise the 

 acids generated during the digestive process. 



EARTH-WORMS are distributed throughout the 

 world under the form of a few genera, which 

 externally are closely similar to one another. 

 The British species of Lumbricus have never 

 been carefully monographed; but we may 

 judge of their probable number from those 

 inhabiting neighbouring countries. In Scan- 

 dinavia there are eight species, according to 



