RED OR DUNG WORMS. 165 



vibration being communicated to the earth ; hence the ne- 

 cessity of the collector treading lightly as a passing spirit. 

 It is only through feeling the earth quake by the footstep 

 that they become sensible of the presence of an enemy, 

 as they possess neither the organs of sight nor hearing, 

 so that, if the worm-hunter only takes care to tread softly 

 upon the bosom of his mother earth, he may gratify his 

 taste for music at the same time by singing 'Excelsior' 

 or the ' Hundred Pipers ' at the top of his voice for any- 

 thing the worms will care about it. 



They may also be found in numbers under wet straw, 

 logs of wood, or large stones that have lain some time. 

 And where they abound they may easily be obtained by 

 thrusting a spade or stout stick into the ground and 

 shaking it, when all those within the circuit of the 

 vibration will rise to the surface with the greatest pre- 

 cipitation, mistaking it for the heavings of their natural 

 foe, the mole an interesting and rather wonderful 

 manifestation of the power of instinct in a creature 

 so low m the scale of existence. In long-continued 

 droughts, they are sometimes difficult to obtain, as they 

 then retire deep into the subsoil, and can only be in- 

 duced to rise by well wetting a portion of soil, where 

 their castings show them to be plentiful, with a few 

 buckets of water, and then covering it over with a layer 

 of damp straw. In a day or two they will be found 

 just beneath the surface ; or they may be forced to leave 

 their holes by pouring into them a few buckets full of salt 

 and water, or an infusion of walnut leaves or green hemp. 

 The Red or Dung- Worm, in my estimation, is the 



