CHAPTER VI. 

 BRANCH ANNULATA. 



THE SEGMENTED WORMS. 

 Example The Earthworm. 



Habits of Earthworms. The name " earthworm " is so 

 appropriate that no one questions its fitness. As every one 

 knows, the earthworm burrows through the soil, usually 

 making the hole deep enough to reach moist earth. The 

 first portion of the burrow is usually vertical, but deeper 

 its course is somewhat irregular. The worms swallow the 

 soil, and from it they derive a considerable part of their 

 food, digesting out of it the organic matter, which is largely 

 composed of decaying plant material. The earthworm has 

 the advantage of utilizing as food the material which it 

 must excavate to make its burrow. In this respect it has 

 a decided advantage over such animals as the mole or 

 pouched gopher, which, as they proceed, are obliged to 

 carry out or push aside the soil without deriving any 

 immediate benefit from it. Earthworms are nocturnal in 

 their habits, and the fact that they are seldom seen except 

 when dug up leads most people to suppose that they spend 

 their whole lives beneath the soil. But this is not the case, 

 for if one searches for them with a lantern, they may be 

 found in summer nights, sometimes wholly out of their 

 holes, sometimes partly out, holding fast to the sides of the 

 burrow by the tail end, and ready to retreat at the approach 

 of danger. If they are found crawling about in the day- 



87 



