32 HABITS OF WORMS. Chap. I. 



no sign of a burrow; and twice the buried 

 objects were laid on pieces of tin-foil which 

 were not in the least displaced. It is of 

 course possible that the worms whilst moving 

 about on the surface of the ground, with their 

 tails affixed within their burrows, may have 

 poked their heads into the places where the 

 above objects were buried ; but I have never 

 seen worms acting in this manner. Some 

 pieces of cabbage-leaf and of onion were twice 

 buried beneath very fine ferruginous sand, 

 which was slightly pressed down and well 

 watered, so as to be rendered very compact, 

 and these pieces were never discovered. On 

 a third occasion the same kind of sand was 

 neither pressed down nor watered, and the 

 pieces of cabbage were discovered and re- 

 moved after the second night. These several 

 facts indicate that worms possess some power 

 of smell ; and that they discover by this 

 means odoriferous and much-coveted kinds 

 of food. 



It may be presumed that all animals which 

 feed on various substances possess the sense 

 of taste, and this is certainly the case with 

 worms. Cabbage-leaves are much liked by 



