THE WORM. 177 



sions, a moist or dewy evening brings them forth 

 from their retreats, for the universal purpose of 

 continuing their kind. They chiefly live in a 

 light, rich, and fertile soil, moistened by dews or 

 accidental showers, but avoid those places where 

 the water is apt to lie on the surface of the earth, 

 or where the clay is too stiff for their easy pro- 

 gression under ground. 



Helpless as they are formed, yet they seem very 

 vigilant in avoiding those animals that chiefly 

 make them their prey ; in particular, the mole, 

 w r ho feeds entirely upon them beneath the sur- 

 face, and who seldom ventures, from the dimness 

 of its sight, into the open air, him they avoid, 

 by darting up from the earth the instant they feel 

 the ground move ; and fishermen, who are well 

 acquainted with this, take them in what numbers 

 they choose, by stirring the earth where they ex- 

 pect to find them. They are also driven from 

 their retreats under ground by pouring bitter or 

 acrid water thereon, such as that water in which 

 green walnuts have been steeped, or a ley made 

 of potashes. 



Such is the general outline of the history of 

 these reptiles, which, as it should seem, degrades 

 them no way beneath the rank of other animak 

 of the insect creation ; but we now come to a part 

 of their history which proves the imperfection of 

 their organs, from the easiness with which these 

 little machines may be damaged and repaired 

 again. It is well known in mechanics, that the 

 finest and most complicated instruments are the 

 most easily put out of order, and the most diflS- 



VOL. VI. M 



