OBSERVATIONS ON EARTHWORMS 



39 



It is thus brought home to us how from remote geological epochs 

 earthworms have been at work, helping the atmospheric agents, wind 

 and rain, to turn hard rock into fertile soil. As we write we have 

 before us on the table a piece of quartzite of early Silurian age with 



FIGURE 168. Decaying vegetable matter pulled into the ground by a worm. 



a well-marked worm burrow, showing that even in these remote times 

 worm-like creatures burrowed in the sand of the sea floor. 



It is well known that the earthworm lives in a burrow, except in 

 much turned garden soil. There still would appear, however, to be 

 a doubt as to whether healthy worms leave their holes except on rare 

 occasions. Darwin affirms that they often do, but Mr 0. H. Latter, 

 in his recently published book,* takes the opposite view. 



* " The Natural History of Common Animals," Cambridge Press. 



