CHAP. III. BEOUGHT UP BY WORMS. 165 



been ejected at the mouth of the same burrow, 

 and which in most cases appeared fresh and 

 always retained their vermiform configuration, 

 generally exceeded an ounce in weight after 

 being dried, and sometimes nearly equalled a 

 quarter of a pound. On the Nilgiri moun- 

 tains one casting even exceeded this latter 

 weight. The largest castings in England 

 were found on extremely poor pasture-land; 

 and these, as far as I have seen, are generally 

 larger than those on land producing a rich 

 vegetation. It would appear that worms 

 have to swallow a greater amount of earth 

 on poor than on rich land, in order to obtain 

 sufficient nutriment. 



With respect to the tower-like castings 

 near Nice (Nos. 5 and 6 in the above table), 

 Dr. King often found five or six of them on 

 a square foot of surface ; and these, judging 

 from their average weight, would have 

 weighed together 7^ ounces; so that the 

 weight of those on a square yard would 

 have been 41b. 3oz, Dr. King collected, 

 near the close of the year 1872, all the 

 castings which still retained their vermiform 

 shape, whether broken down or not, from a 



N 2 



