THE EARTHWORM. 177 



If we cover our vessel with a piece of glass, so that we 

 can still see them, and also prevent them from climbing 

 over, we shall not have long to wait before we view them at 

 work. Observe how they insert the finely stretched- out tip 

 of the body between the particles of soil. Note that this 

 part is then made thicker by the drawing up of the portions 

 within and behind, so that the creature, using its body as 

 a wedge, bores its way through the ground. In a short 

 time, if we have not packed the earth on the top too firmly, 

 the worms will all disappear below. 



Perhaps you wonder why they go underground so 

 quickly. Of course their home is below, and they are 

 usually ill at ease in the light. They do not like the light. 

 At night or in the dark they will remain much longer 

 above ground. They have no eyes to tell them ; they do 

 not see the difference they/eeZ it. 



Now take one of the worms in your hand, and, without 

 hurting it, draw it gently through the tips of your fingers. 

 Do you feel that there are two rows along the body near its 

 lower side which are rougher than any other part ? This 

 roughness is caused by very fine stiff bristles, which stick 

 out along these rows. We cannot see them well without a 

 magnifying glass, but there are really four rows, two on 

 each side, set closely together. The worm uses these 

 bristles to grip the ground as it crawls along, and to hold 

 by the sides of its burrow. So that when we know this, 

 and also remember that it can thicken its body and make 

 it quite tight in the burrow, we are not surprised that the 

 Blackbird has to pull very hard to drag it out of the earth. 

 Indeed, the worm often grips so firmly that it is broken in 

 two in the struggle. 



The bird, of course, eats its share. But the wonderful 

 thing is that the part left in the earth does not always die. 

 There grows upon it a piece exactly like the bit which the 

 bird ate. A tail-end grows a head-part, and a head-part a 

 tail-end. What happens, then, when the gardener acci- 

 dentally cuts one with his spade ? If the worm was well 

 and strong at the time, it is likely that two worms will 

 result. Eemember that this should never be done wilfully, 

 since tlie worm feels. 



N. S. 12 



