CONCERNING LAWNS 347 
how much he knows about the subject let the 
following incident show. 
One evening I was with Mr. Reauk K. Beddard 
at his club, and taking advantage of the occasion, 
asked him some question about earthworms, he 
being the greatest authority in the universe on the 
subject. It happened that another friend of his, 
a famous angler, was sitting near and overheard our 
conversation. 
“ Ah, yes—worms,” he said. “Before I forget 
all about it, I want to ask you if the worm we dig 
up in the sand for bait is the same as the common 
earthworm.” 
“No,” said the other. 
“Well, but they are both worms, are they 
not?” 
“Yes.” 
“And if they are both worms, what’s the 
difference?” 
“They are both worms, and differ as much as a 
cat from a squirrel—both mammals.” 
And that was all he would say: the subject of 
their differences could not be profitably discussed 
on that occasion and with persons who knew so 
little. 
Like everybody else I had read Darwin’s classic, 
but what one reads does not inform the mind 
much unless one observes and thinks for oneself 
at the same time. The wonderful story of the 
action of earthworms on the earth’s surface only 
came home to me during the excavations at 
