Chap. II. THEIR WIDE DISTRIBUTION. 123 



sandy earth of which they were formed still 

 cohered with considerable tenacity. 



The late Mr. John Scott of the Botanic 

 Gardens near Calcutta made many observa- 

 tions for me on worms living under the hot 

 and humid climate of Bengal. The castings 

 abound almost everywhere, in jungles and in 

 the open ground, to a greater degree, as he 

 thinks, than in England. After the water 

 has subsided from the flooded rice-fields, the 

 whole surface very soon becomes studded with 

 castings — a fact which much surprised Mr. 

 Scott, as he did not know how long worms 

 could survive beneath water. They cause 

 much trouble in the Botanic garden, *'for 

 " some of the finest of our lawns can be kept 

 " in anything Hke order only by being almost 

 " daily rolled ; if left undisturbed for a few days 

 " they become studded with large castings." 

 These closely resemble those described as 

 abounding near Nice ; and they are probably 

 the work of a species of Perichseta. They 

 stand up like towers, with an open passage in 

 the centre. 



A figure of one of these castings from a 

 photograph is here given (Fig. 3). The 



