THE EARTHWORM. 



To lonse heraeU to the proper pitch of enthnaiagm on thia sab- 

 jeot, the teacher has only to read Darwin's Vege- 

 table Mould and Earthworms. The moat inveteiate 

 piejndice against everything that crawls will be 

 nnable to snivive a catefal stndy of thia book. 



Oar living earthworma are kept for winter atndy 

 in a box of earth in the cellar, covered to prevent 

 their escape, but not ao cloaely as to ezclnde the 

 air. The earth mnst be kept damp, as worms 

 breathe only throngh the akin, which mnst there- 

 fore be always moist. Occasionally they wQl need 

 a few leaves for food, which will disappear by 'f~~V^ ' 



degrees inside their burrows. At night, when the 

 worms are busy foraging, if we remove the cover 

 qnietly, and are careful not to let the light fall ^ / 

 directly on them, we can surprise quite an active 

 colony, each one exploring the earth around him 

 with the forward end of the body, while the tail ~ft/— 

 still clings just inside the burrow. 



For our lesson each child has a living earth- 

 worm in a little dish. Half of the diehes are filled 

 with water, half with earth. A little talk about 

 the habits of the worms occupies a few minutes, 

 and gives the children time to become accustomed 

 to their movements and ready to observe them. ^_ 



At first both ends of the loog, ringed 

 body look alike to us, but by degrees we 

 discover that the end which always moves ^ q 

 forward (Fig. 1, 1 1) is pointed and termi- 

 nates in a little knob, the upper lip. There 



Fig. 1. 



