THE EARTHWORM 407 



nails. These quickly rust, and the rust spreads to the adjoining 

 wood, rendering it so distasteful to the molluscs that they will not 

 attack it. 



VERMES 



Between the sub-kingdom of the Echinodermata and the already- 

 mentioned CcElenterata (the jelly-fish, corals, sea-anemones, &c.; 

 comes the sub-kingdom Vermes, which sufficiently explains itself as 

 comprising the " worm-like " animals. Among the members of the 

 group are the Annelids or true worms; the Leeches, the Rotifers, 

 the Thread-worms, the Flat-worms, &c. 



As the common Earthworm is so often under our eyes, let us 

 take him as a type of the Vermes. 



ANNELIDA 

 THE EARTHWORM (Family LUMBRICID^) 



Few creatures are more despised and misunderstood than the 

 Earthworm ; and yet few creatures are more valuable. It is one 

 of Nature's great workers; and though, like so many of its fellow- 

 labourers, it is small and insignificant, its vast numbers compensate 

 for its want of size, and enable it to perform a task of the very 

 highest utility, namely, the preparation of soils for the better 

 growth of plants. 



An earthworm has no distinct and separate head. But if we 

 examine it we shall notice that one end of its body is much more 

 pointed than the other, and that as it moves along it always travels 

 with this pointed end first. We shall see, too, that it is continually 

 feeling about with this pointed end. 



This is the head, and to its conical shape the earthworm chiefly 

 owes its power of forcing its way through the earth. Beneath the 

 head is the mouth. 



