130 PHOSPHORESCENCE OF EARTHWORM. 



concerning the earthworm appears to have been 

 observed by M. Vallot, of the Academy of Dijon, 

 as early as 1828. I may add here, that I distinctly 

 remember witnessing, when quite a child, the 

 phosphorescence of the earthworm ; the light 

 appeared connected with the slimy matter that 

 covers the animal's body. It was whilst digging 

 at night, in a large dunghill, for worms to supply 

 baits for a fishing excursion that my schoolfellows 

 and myself turned up many hundred Lumbrics in 

 a highly luminous condition ; but I cannot recol- 

 lect in what month this happened. 



