464 Handbook of Nature-Study 



since it breathes through the skin, and it has sufficient knowledge of soil 

 texture and plasticity to recognize the futility of attempts at burrow 

 building with unmanageable, large grains of sand. 



These creatures are nocturnal, rarely appearing by day unless "drowned 

 out" of the burrows. During the day they lie near the surface extended 

 at full length, the head uppermost. Here they are discovered by keen- 

 eyed birds and sacrificed by thousands, notwithstanding the strong 

 muscular protest of which they are capable. 



Seemingly conscious of its inability to find the way back to its home, 

 an earthworm anchors tight by its tail while stretching its elastic length 

 in a foraging expedition. It is an omnivorous creature, including in its 

 diet earth, leaves, flowers, raw meat, fat, and even showing cannibalistic 

 designs on fellow earthworms. In the schoolroom, earthworms may be 

 fed on pieces of lettuce or cabbage leaves. A feeding worm will show the 

 proboscis, an extension of the upper lip used to push food into the mouth. 

 The earthworm has no hard jaws or teeth, yet it eats through the hardest 

 soil. Inside the mouth opening is a very muscular pharynx, which can be 

 extended or withdrawn. Applied to the surface of any small object it 

 acts as a suction pump, drawing food into the food tube. The earth 

 taken in furnishes some organic matter for food; calcareous matter is 

 added to the remainder before being voided. This process is unique 

 among animals. The calcareous matter is supposed to be derived from 

 leaves which the worms eat. Generally the earth is swallowed at some 

 distance below the surface, and finally ejected in characteristic "castings." 

 Thus, the soil is slowly worked over and kept in good condition by earth- 

 worms, of which Darwin says: "It may be doubted whether there are 

 many other animals which have played so important a part in the history 

 of the world as have these lowly organized creatures." 



References — The Earthworm, Darwin; The Natural History of Some 

 Common Animals, Latter. 



"Flyfishing is an art, a fine art beyond a doubt, but it is an art and, like all art, it is 

 artificial. Fishing with an angleworm is natural. It fits into the need of the occasion. 

 It fits in with the spirit of the boy. It is not by chance that the angleworm, earthworm, 

 fishworm, is found in every damp bank, in every handy bit of sod, the green earth over, 

 where there are races whose boys are real boys with energy enough to catch a fish. It is 

 not by chance that the angleworm makes a perfect fit on a hook, with no anatomy with 

 which to feel pains, and no arms or legs to be broken off or to be waved helplessly in the 

 air. Its skin is tough enough so as not to tear, not so tough as to receive unseemly 

 bruises, when the boy is placing it on the hook. The angleworm is perfectly at hofne on 

 the hook. It is not quite comfortable anywhere else. It crawls about on sidewalks after 

 rain, bleached and emaciated. It is never quite at ease even in the ground, but on tlie 

 hook it rests peacefully, ivith the apparent feeling that its natural mission is performed.'' 

 — "Boys' Fish and Boys' Fishing," by D.a.vid Starr Jordan. 



LESSON CVII 



The Earthworm 

 Leading thought — The earthworm is a creature of the soil and is of much 

 economic importance. 



Method — Any garden furnishes abundant material for the study of 

 earthworms. They are nocturnal workers and may be observed by Ian- 



