BY OSWALD H. LATTER, M.A.OxoN. 

 Senior Science Master of Charterhouse School 



CHAPTER XIX 



EARTHWORMS 



Habits. Earthworms occur in great numbers in almost all soils, 

 but especially in such as support abundant vegetation. Their 

 presence is usually indicated by the little heaps of earth which 

 they throw up at the mouth of their burrows. These heaps are 

 known as " worm-casts/' and are composed of soil which the 

 worm has eaten and passed through its body, extracting from 

 the material as it travels along the digestive organs such nourish- 

 ment as it may contain. A further means of detecting the home 

 of the worm is afforded by the habit which these animals possess 

 of dragging leaves, leaf-stalks, small twigs and other similar 

 objects into the opening of the burrow. The result of this action 

 is that from each burrow there projects, more or less vertically 

 into the air, a cluster of the above-named objects. In perform- 

 ing this operation, which is generally carried out at night or during 

 the twilight, worms display considerable intelligence, for the leaf 

 is nearly always seized by the more pointed end, which is, of 

 course, the easier to drag into the hole. These collections of 

 vegetable matter, in addition to providing a store of food which 

 the worm can reach without exposing itself to risk on the surface 

 of the earth during the hours of daylight, serve further to 

 prevent the entry of enemies into the burrow, to keep the air 

 within moderately moist, but at the same time to allow fresh air 

 to enter, and so provide the ventilation necessary for breathing. 

 Large earthworms of convenient size for study may often be 



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