82 INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY CHAP, vi 



2. Dig up a few earthworms of different sizes and carefully 

 examine them, verifying all the external characteristics mentioned 

 in the preceding chapter. Feel the bristles and listen to the 

 sound they make as the worm crawls over a piece of paper. Watch 

 the movements of the body. 



3. Look for worms in a garden at night by the light of a lantern. 

 Try and find out what the worms are doing. Are they sensitive to 

 the light ? Test their sense of sound and of touch. Mark several 

 burrows and visit them the next day ; look for any that are plugged 

 with leaves or stones and see how this is done. Try and trace one 

 burrow down to its end. Examine worm castings, and, in some 

 place where worms are plentiful, from a measured small area of soil 

 collect all the castings, day by day, for a month, in order to see how 

 much is brought up. Examine the nature of the soil of the cast- 

 ings. When digging, always look out for worm cocoons, and if 

 found with eggs still within them, keep them carefully in moist 

 soil until the young worms hatch out. 



