128 HABITS OF WORMS. Chap. II, 



whilst soft, and that their diameters had thus 

 been increased. Some had flowed so much 

 that they now consisted of a pile of almost flat 

 confluent cakes. All were formed of fine, 

 rather light-coloured earth, and were surpris- 

 ingly hard and compact, owing no doubt tc 

 the animal matter by which the particles of 

 earth had been cemented together. They 

 did not disintegrate, even when left for some 

 hours in water. Although they had been 

 cast up on the surface of gravelly soil, they 

 contained extremely few bits of rock, the 

 largest of which was only "15 inch in 

 diameter. 



Dr. King saw in Ceylon a worm about 2 

 feet in length and ^ inch in diameter ; and 

 he was told that it was a very common species 

 during the wet season. These worms must 

 throw up castings at least as large as those on 

 the Nilgiri Mountains ; but Dr. King saw 

 none during his short visit to Ceylon. Suffi- 

 cient facts have now been given, showing 

 that worms do much work in bringing up 

 fine earth to the surface in most or all parts 

 of the world, and under the most different 

 climates. 



