4 The Earthv?orn: A Fish Food 4 



4 JOHM R. BASCOTT | 



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OfOned by JoKn Mc Ginnis OvJned by W. H. HeimbacK 



YOUNG CALICO TELESCOPE BROAD -TAIL GOLDFISH 



The type you are proud to possess at the close of the outdoor season 





If one asked "What is an earthworm?" 

 the probable answer would be "food for 

 fishes." True, and fine food, but there 

 the question would likely rest. Its skin 

 is soft and naked, and protected with a 

 coating of slime. The body consists of 

 from one hundred to two hundred rings, 

 each provided with minute bristles. It is 

 these bristles that enable the worm to 

 so successfully resist being pulled from 

 its hole, even though it be rent apart 

 The muscular system is well developed, 

 and the animals can crawl backward and 

 forward. The internal organs are rather 

 simple, though to describe them thor- 

 oughly would require many pages. In 

 brief, it has a pharynx, which is pushed 

 forward when it eats. This conducts to 

 the oesophagus, which is enlarged into a 

 crop in front of the gizzard. The latter 

 organ opens into the intestine, which 



runs in a straight line to the vent. Tiny 

 grains of sand are found in the gizzard 

 and intestine, and probably serve to grind 

 the food. Respiration is carried on 

 through the whole surface of the body. 

 Eyes and ears are not present, but the 

 animal is sensitive to light and sound. 

 Each individual unites the two sexes in 

 its body, but two worms pair together. 

 The eggs are contained in a sort of 

 cocoon formed of mucus, which hardens 

 when exposed to the air. 



The earthworm feeds on vegetable sub- 

 stances contained in the soil, so that it is 

 constantly swallowing earth to obtain nu- 

 triment. It plays a most important part 

 in the economy of Nature, as, by break- 

 ing up and mixing the soil and by drag- 

 ging leaves into its burrow, it has tilled 

 and manured the earth for ages. They 

 are found throughout the world. Though 



