Annelides. 2577 



merely taken hold of, but full one-half of its length was fairly sucked into the crea- 

 ture's mouth, although with no better success. I now placed in its way a fallen co- 

 rolla of the white jasmine, which, as soon as discovered, was seized upon just as the 

 leaf had been and dragged to the hole, but having been taken hold of by the side of 

 the tube, could not be got into it. I then removed it to a distance and placed & fresh 

 pulled leaf between it and the hole, but of this no notice was taken and the jasmine 

 was again found. It was now seized by one of its segments, but apparently without 

 design, and drawn partly into the hole. The following morning this, together with 

 the now withering leaf and various pieces of stalks, &c. were at the mouth of the hole: 

 several of its segments were mutilated from having been sucked, and one was entirely 

 gone. Since this I have had many opportunities of observing that any portions of de- 

 caying vegetable matter within their reach are laid hold of, and if sufficiently small or 

 pliable, entire disappear, otherwise they are left as we find them sticking in tufts on 

 the surface of the ground. Hence to the oft-asked question "Of what use are 

 worms ? '' may we not reply that they form a class of scavengers to the vegetable king- 

 dom somewhat analogous to the Silphidae in the animal creation. — W. K. Bridgman ; 

 69, St. Giles' Street, Nonvich. 



[I have a small portion of a small garden partitioned off and covered with glass, 

 for the purpose of protecting a few British ferns which are there planted, and the earth 

 being somewhat moist and very sheltered, abounds with worms. During the past 

 spring and early summer, I was greatly annoyed to find the newly expanded, and, in 

 many instances, the half expanded fronds rotting off about an inch above the ground ; 

 on carefully examining the seat of the injury, I found evident marks of the stems hav- 

 ing been nibbled or bitten all round at the very place where the decay was taking 

 place : I looked in vain for slugs, woodlice, earwigs and weevils every morning and 

 night with a candle, well knowing the destructive propensities of such animals: it was 

 evident to me, that whatever the enemy might be, it took notice of my approach and 

 made a timely retreat. However, one evening, after having spent at least half-an- 

 hour in this little fern-house, I saw the apex of a newly expanded frond tremble and 

 jerk most violently : I knew there was no draught, neither did the motion at all 

 resemble the graceful waving which wind produces. I remained very quiet, and pre- 

 sently saw three or four more fronds similarly agitated. With the least possible 

 movement, and without altering the position of my feet at all, I brought the light to 

 bear on the stem of a trembling frond, and there I beheld a large worm, alternately 

 seizing and letting go the stem at the very seat of the injury before described. I felt 

 quite certain, from the obvious diminution of bulk, that the worm was actually de- 

 vouring the stem of the fern, for I watched the process, time after time, and in one 

 instance until the frond actually fell. J am not, however, so convinced that the 

 worms were the primary cause of the injury : from a long series of careful observations, 

 I incline to believe that they only attacked those stems in which decay had already 

 commenced from some undiscovered cause. Having discovered that worms are not 

 alarmed by light or the close proximity of an observer unless he move, I have often 

 watched the operations which my correspondent describes. — Edward Newman]. 



