EARTH-BOARD. 



EARTH-WORMS. 



the subsoil plough, produces such beneficial 

 results; how the gases and aqueous vapour of 

 the air are hence rendered more serviceable to 

 the roots of his crops ; and hmo it is that this 

 free passage of these elastic fluids, first caused 

 by the action of the plough, is preserved and 

 facilitated by that of the common or the horse- 

 hoe. Such researches, too, into the important 

 propertirs with which the Creator has endowed 

 the soil will be serviceable to the cultivator in 

 even an indirect manner. These investigations 

 will, assuredly, suggest to him the very reason- 

 able conclusion, that there may be yet other 

 chemical properties hidden in the land, which 

 will serve to awaken the curiosity, and reward 

 the labours of future scientific cultivators for 

 many succeeding generations. (Brit. Farm. 

 Mag. voL v. p. 1.) See MIXTUHK OF SOILS, 

 ANALYSIS OF SOILS, ABSORPTON, CHALK, Hu- 

 MCS, &c. 



EARTH-BOARD. That part of a plough 

 which turns over the earth. It is generally 

 termeil the mould-board. See PLOUGH. 



EARTH-BUILDINGS. Buildings formed 

 by rammed or compressed earth or clay. This 

 kind of building is supposed to have been 

 known at a very early period, and is still much 

 in use in the southern parts of France. Not 

 only the walls of the houses, but garden walls 

 are formed in the same manner, and of the 

 same materials in many parts of Normandy. 

 In some instances, boards are placed between 

 the layers of clay, and form a kind of frame- 

 work, which increases the strength of the wall. 



Clay cottages are not uncommon in some 

 parts of England; but they are not constructed 

 in the above-mentioned manner. 



EARTH, EATING OF. Stall-fed cattle, and 

 horses which have not the opportunity of 

 plucking up the roots of grass, evince a great 

 partiality for earth. It is seldom that a cow 

 will pass a newly-raised mole-hill without 

 muzzling into it, and devouring a considerable 

 portion of it, This is particularly the case 

 when there is any degree of indigestion, and it 

 probably acts as a sort of gentle purgative. It 

 is stated by Mr. Youatt (On Cattle') that the 

 celebrated Kinton ox always had a basket of 

 earth standing near him, of which he ate a 

 considerable quantity. When decomposition 

 commenced, and the acescent principle began 

 to be developed, and the animal felt uneasiness 

 on that account, he had recourse to the mould; 

 and the acid uniting itself to the earth, the un- 

 easy feeling was relieved. It is also probable 

 that a purgative neutral salt was manufactured 

 in the paunch, but this would depend on the 

 >f the earth. The absorbent or alkaline 

 earth taken up with the roots of grass by sheep, 

 also neutralizes the acids of the stomach. (Lib. 

 Knoio. Sheep," p. 3 ; Cattle," p. 104 

 317.) It is usual to allow sucking calves to 

 have access to chalk. In the stomachs of al- 

 most all young animals, man not excepted, 

 there is a tendency to form superabundant acid, 

 which, if not corrected, impairs digestion, and 

 interferes with the assimilative function, that 

 which converts the chyle into the animal tissue 

 or substance of the body. The importance, 

 therefore, of correcting this, by the administra- 

 tion of absorbed earths, is obvious. 

 436 



It might become a matter of curious .nquiry, 

 how far this desire of earth in cattle has affi- 

 nity to that of the human stomach, which leads 

 the Otomacs, a South American tribe, to eat 

 clay. It is an unctuous clay, containing an 

 oxide of iron ; and during some months, when 

 provisions are scarce, an Otomac devours 

 about three-quarters of a pound of clay daily, 

 and he does not suffer nor become lean upon 

 it. The negroes on the coast of Guinea, and 

 the natives of Java, and of some of the other 

 islands of the Indian Archipelago, are also 

 earth-eaters ; and in this and many European 

 countries, pregnant women, and young girls in 

 a state of disease connected with the uterine 

 function, also evince a strong inclination to eat 

 earth. 



Among quadrupeds, earth-eating is not con- 

 fined to the horse and ox tribes ; for, when 

 pressed for food, wolves in the north-east of 

 Europe, reindeer and kids in Siberia, all eat 

 clay. It is probable that the earth operates as a 

 mechanical stimulus to the stomach, and abates 

 the sensation of hunger, which always attends 

 certain diseased conditions of the stomach. But, 

 whatever may be the cause, this instinctive 

 longing for earth in horses, cows, and oxen 

 should not be overlooked, and the animals should 

 be supplied with it when they are stall-fed. 



EARTH-NUT (Buniwn flexuosum). The 

 common earth-nut, kipper, or pig-nut, for it is 

 known by all these names, is a perennial plant 

 growing in sandy or gravelly meadows, pas- 

 tures, orchards, and woods ; flowering in May 

 or June. The root is eatable, nearly globular, 

 black, internally white, aromatic, sweet, and 

 mucilaginous, with some acrimony. The stem 

 is a foot high or more, striated, with long, nar- 

 row, acute leaves ; the radicle leaves are twice 

 or thrice pinnatifid. The flowers are in um- 

 bels ; they are pure white. The roots are 

 at present searched for only by hogs, who de- 

 vour them with avidity; but as they are little 

 inferior to chestnuts, they might form an agree- 

 able addition to winter desserts, eaten either 

 raw, boiled, or roasted. ( Willictis Dom. Encyc.) 



EARTH-WORMS (Ivmbricm, Linn.). Well- 

 known molluscous animals, which are common 

 in all parts of the country, at little depths be- 

 neath the surface of the earth. White, in his 

 Nat. Hist, of Selborne, speaking of their effects 

 on the soil in promoting vegetation, says, 

 " The most insignificant insects and reptiles 

 are of much more consequence, and have much 

 more influence in the economy of nature, than 

 the incurious are aware of ; and are mighty in 

 their effect from their minuteness, which ren- 

 ders them less an object of attention, and 

 from their numbers and fecundity; earth- 

 worms, though in appearance a small and des- 

 picable link in the chain of nature, yet, if lost, 

 would make a lamentable chasm. For, to say 

 nothing of half the birds and some quadru- 

 peds which are entirely supported by them, 

 worms seem to be equal promoters of vegeta- 

 tion, which would proceed but lamely without 

 them, by boring, perforating, and loosening the 

 soil, and rendering it pervious to the rain and 

 the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and 

 stalks of leaves and twigs into it; and most of 

 all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of 



