The Effect of Rain on Earth- Wo 
THE P:FFECT of rain on EARTH-WORMS.' 
TOURING the rain in Washington, D. C, on the 20th of March, 
^^ my attention was attracted to the earth-worms so abundant 
on the paths, the sidewalks and the streets of the city. They 
seemed to be everywhere. Some were large, some small ; some 
active, some sluggish ; some alive, many dead. I had noticed 
their presence before during Januar)- and Februarys in the Capitol 
grounds, especially on the pavements. I supposed then they had 
simply come out from under some rubbish lying along the sides 
of the walks, and that they would straggle back again. I have 
since come to a different conclusion, — a conclusion which is, in 
effect, that few indeed of those which come out are ever able to, 
or at least seldom really do, straggle back. 
During the time referred to I determined to see, if possible, 
the extent of the mortalit)^ among the earth-worms. So I took 
the opportunit}- of counting, as I walked slowly along, the num- 
ber upon the ground, alive or dead. This I did in several places 
and under different circumstances. 
The first place examined was a gravel walk in the Smithsonian 
grounds, while the rain was still falling. In a distance roughly 
estimated at 425 feet, I noticed 380 worms. Probably three- 
fourths of these were dead, lying drowned in pools of water, or 
else crushed by the feet of passers-b}^ On another path in the 
Smithsonian grounds w^ere some very large examples, one of 
which was at least nine inches in length and as large round as an 
ordinar}' lead pencil. I have since seen specimens even larger 
than this. 
A second place examined was on the asphalt sidewalk of 
Mas.sachusetts avenue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth, a dis- 
tance of about 600 feet, and after the rain had ceased. In this 
distance I counted 1 80 worms, the dead ones averaging nine out 
of every ten. On one side of this .stretch is a stone wall, gener- 
ally w'ith a considerable amount of dirt at its base, and on the 
