WORLD WAR 



WORSTED 



A Few Statistics. The total attendance at 

 the Exposition was more than twenty-seven 

 and a half million people, the average daily 

 attendance being 172,712. The best single day's 

 record was that of 716,881 on "Chicago Day", 

 October 9, the anniversary of the burning of 

 the city. There was a profit of about $1,850,000 

 on the books when the Exposition closed a 

 practical tribute to the enterprise and splendid 

 management of those who had its affairs in 

 charge. Fitting closing ceremonies had been 

 planned for October 30, but they were aban- 

 doned on account of the assassination, on Oc- 

 tober 28, of Chicago's mayor, Carter Harrison. 



The World's Columbian Exposition set a new 

 standard for exhibitions of its class. It was a 

 worthy expression of the energy, enthusiasm 

 and resources of the New World. L.M.B. 



WORLD WAR. See WAR OF THE NATIONS. 



WORMS, wurmz, the common name for the 

 parasites which inhabit the human body, and 

 which the scientist calls entozoa. The latter 

 name refers to their wormlike shape. Of the 

 various kinds the ones most generally known ' 

 are the pinworms, or seat worms, found in 

 the lower bowel and rectum of children, the 

 tapeworm and the trichina. Pinworms cause 

 pain in the rectum, itching and straining. 

 These troublesome parasites may be destroyed 

 by injecting quassia into the rectum. The 

 tapeworm and trichina are described under their 

 respective headings. C.B.B. 



WORMS, vohrms (in English, wurmz), one 

 of the oldest cities of Germany, beautifully 

 situated in a productive Rhine district in the 

 grand duchy of Hesse, twenty-two miles north 

 of Heidelberg. Worms is of historical impor- 

 tance as the place of convocation of many Ger- 

 man diets, notably that of 1521, when Martin 

 Luther appeared before Charles V and refused 

 to retract the statements expressed in the 

 ninety-five theses (see LUTHER, MARTIN). An 

 imposing monument to his memory was erected 

 in the Luther Platz in 1868. The scene of the 

 Nibelungenlied (which see) is laid at Worms. 

 Among the chief places of interest because of 

 their antiquity are the Cathedral of Saint 

 Peter, founded in the ninth and carefully re- 

 stored in the nineteenth century; Saint Paul's 

 Church and Saint Paul's Museum, which con- 

 tains a unique Luther library; a synagogue 

 built in Romanesque style, dating from the 

 eleventh century, and the Church of Our Lady, 

 a late-Gothic edifice of grace and beauty. In 

 the vicinity is produced the celebrated wine 

 known as Liebjraumilch. The vineyards on the 



hill that shuts in Worms to the south yield 

 some of the most delicious wines of the Rhine. 



During the Middle Ages Worms was a very 

 populous as well as a great commercial city, 

 but it was almost entirely destroyed by the 

 French in the war of 1689, and although rebuilt 

 en a less extensive scale it has never regained 

 its former prosperity. Population in 1910, 46,- 

 819. 



WORMS, or VERMES, vur'meez, that 

 branch of the animal kingdom which includes 

 limbless, creeping, invertebrate animals. Their 

 bodies are long, cylindrical or flat, and are di- 

 vided into many segments. Various species, 

 such as the common earthworm, are found liv- 

 ing in the soil; others, such as the leech, live 

 in water, and many are parasites living in the' 

 bodies of other animals. In this latter group 

 are the tapeworm, which infests the intestines of 

 human beings, and the trichina, a hairlike worm 

 which lives in the bodies of swine and other 

 animals. The term worm is also applied to 

 many caterpillars, maggots, grubs and other 

 forms of insect larvae. The scientist Linnaeus 

 first used the term Vermes to designate a sub- 

 kingdom of animals, but included in his di- 

 vision all of the lower invertebrate animals but 

 the insects. 



Related Subjects. Not all of the following 

 are worms in the scientific sense of the term, but 

 all are called worms. Articles on all of these 

 appear in these volumes : 

 Cankerworm Measuring Worm 



Caterpillar Tapeworm 



Earthworm Trichina 



Hookworm Wire worm 



Leech Worms 



Lobworm 



WORM ' WOOD , a perennial herb of the com- 

 posite family, bearing an erect, hairy stem 

 from two to four feet high, and coarse, much- 

 divided gray leaves. The small, yellowish flow- 

 ers grow in compact, rounded heads. The herb, 

 mentioned in the Bible and elsewhere as a 

 symbol of bitterness, is aromatic, and is the 

 source of a bitter oil used extensively in the 

 manufacture of a French liquor called absinth 

 (which see). In Europe wormwood is used to 

 some extent as a remedy for indigestion. The 

 plant is native to Asiatic Russia and Europe, 

 and has been introduced into the United States 

 and Canada. 



WORSTED, woolen thread spun from long 

 combed, staple wool, and twisted hard in the 

 spinning. The name is derived from Worsted, 

 a village in Norfolk, England, where it was 

 first manufactured. It is woven, or knit, into 



