12 HUMBLE CREATURES. 



well-formed protruding upper lip, to which a smaUe: 

 or lower lip is placed in juxtaposition. 



These two lips form an imperfect ring, and consti 

 tute the oral aperture or mouth, which is howeve 

 not provided with teeth, nor organs of any othe 

 description. This being the case, and as the worn 

 possesses no prehensile members with which to lai 

 hold of its food, you will naturally be curious to kno-v 

 upon what it subsists, and how it obtains its nourish 

 ment. 



You have doubtless heard of the chameleon, which 

 wonder-loving sages tell us, feeds upon the air*. A- 

 least you will say, this diet cannot be very indigest 

 ible ; but we fear you will smile incredulously whei 

 informed that the Earthworm not only inhabits th( 

 earth, but also feeds upon the element in which i 

 exists; and although some naturalists have declare( 

 that it derives its nutriment from the roots of plants 

 yet this statement, according to the most reliable au 

 thorities, is now pronoimced to be a pure fable. Th( 

 soil is, as you wiU probably be aware, impregnate( 

 with decaying organic substances of various kinds 

 and in order to secure these for its sustenance, the 

 worm gorges itself with earth ; the nutritive consti- 

 tuents are extracted in its stomach by the digestive 

 process, and the indigestible portion ejected in littlt 



* The chameleon subsists upon small insects, which it if 

 enabled to seize by darting forth its wonderfully constructec 

 tongue with great rapidity. See Carpenter's ' Zoology.' Lon- 

 don, 1857. 



