F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

and by suddenly lifting up the little cakes of earth, four worms were seen in the act of quickly retreating. Two castings were thrown up during the third night on the floor, and these were of large size. The season was not favourable for the full activity of worms, and the weather had lately been hot and dry, so that most of the worms now lived at a considerable depth. In digging the two trenches many open burrows and some worms were encountered at between 30 and 40 inches beneath the surface

A1299    Review:     Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms] The Croydon Guardian and Surrey County Gazette, (22 October): 5.   Text   PDF

The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online [page] 5 WE must no longer speak disrespectfully of a worm, and we must endeavour, as far as possible, to educate the early bird to an appreciation of the animal which forms his matutinal meal. Mr. DARWIN says it is to worms, and worms only, that we owe the vegetable mould out of which most earthly things spring. That if it were not for the wonderful action of worms the earth would be changed in character, the surface would be composed of rough and

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

THE FORMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULD, THROUGH THE ACTION OF WORMS, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR HABITS. BY CHARLES DARWIN, LL.D., F.R.S. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1881. The right of Translation is reserved. [page ii

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

INDEX. Abinger, Roman villa at, 178 castings from Roman villa, with rounded particles, 253 Acids of humus, action on rocks, 240 Africa, dust from, 235 Air, currents of, worms sensitive to, 28 Amount of earth brought to the surface by worms, 129 Ants, intelligence of, 93 Archiac, D, criticisms on my views, 4 Artemisia, leaves of, not eaten by worms, 33 Ash-tree, petioles of, 79 Beaulieu Abbey, burial of the old pavement, 193 castings from, with rounded particles, 255 Beaumont, lie de, on

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

assume that half the above number, or 26,886 worms live on such land, then taking from the previous summary 15 tons as the weight of the castings annually thrown up on an acre of land, each worm must annually eject 20 ounces. A full-sized casting at the mouth of a single burrow often exceeds, as we have seen, an ounce in weight; and it is probable that worms eject more than 20 full-sized castings during a year. If they eject annually more than 20 ounces, we may infer that the worms which live

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

manner as gallinaceous and struthious birds swallow stones to aid in the trituration of their food, so it appears to be with terricolous worms. The gizzards of thirty-eight of our common worms were opened, and in twenty-five of them small stones or grains of sand, sometimes together with the hard calcareous concretions formed within the anterior calciferous glands, were found, and in two others concretions alone. In the gizzards of the remaining worms there were no stones; but some of these

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CHAPTER IV. THE PART WHICH WORMS HAVE PLAYED IN THE BURIAL OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS. The accumulation of rubbish on the sites of great cities independent of the action of worms The burial of a Roman villa at Abinger The floors and walls penetrated by worms Subsidence of a modern pavement The buried pavement at Beaulieu Abbey Roman villas at Chedworth and Brading The remains of the Roman town at Silchester The nature of the d bris by which the remains are covered The penetration of the tesselated

A1297    Review:     Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms] The worm and its work. Gloucestershire Chronicle (22 October): 3.   Text   PDF

manure the earth inside their own bodies. By means of this process the entire earthy surface of a country is constantly in a state of change. The whole earth underneath our feet all over the world is swarming with worms, probably all over there are in every acre of land from 35,000 to 50,000 worms. Everyone is familiar with the casts of worms, which themselves look like worms of earth. With so many worms at work, then, it is not difficult to imagine what will be the effect of a constant accumulation

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

weight of earth ejected from a burrow, and from all the burrows within a given space The thickness of the layer of mould which the castings on a given space would form within a given time if uniformly spread out The slow rate at which mould can increase to a great thickness Conclusion Page 129 175 CHAPTER IV. THE PART WHICH WORMS HAVE PLAYED IN THE BURIAL OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS. The accumulation of rubbish on the sites of great cities independent of the action of worms The burial of a Roman

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

persons have found no difficulty in observing worms at night by the same means.* Hoffmeister, however, states that worms, with the exception of a few individuals, are extremely sensitive to light; but he admits that in most cases a certain time is requisite for its action. These statements led me to watch on many successive nights worms kept in pots, which were protected from currents of air by means of glass plates. The pots were approached very gently, in order that no vibration of the floor

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

The half-decayed or fresh leaves which worms intend to devour, are dragged into the mouths of their burrows to a depth of from one to three inches, and are then moistened with a secreted fluid. It has been assumed that this fluid serves to hasten their decay; but a large number of leaves were twice pulled out of the burrows of worms and kept for many weeks in a very moist atmosphere under a bell-glass in my study; and the parts which had been moistened by the worms did not decay more quickly

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

warm, and the worms consequently not being anxious to plug up their holes effectually. Pots tenanted by worms and covered with a net which allowed the entrance of cold air, were left out of doors for several nights, and now 72 leaves were all properly drawn in by their bases. It might perhaps be inferred from the facts as yet given, that worms somehow gain a general notion of the shape or structure of pine leaves, and perceive that it is necessary for them to seize the base where the two needles

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

large quantities of mould being swallowed by worms. It may be worth while here to recall the fact that certain species of Utricularia, which grow in damp places in the tropics, possess bladders beautifully constructed for catching minute subterranean animals; and these traps would not have been developed unless many small animals inhabited such soil. The depth to which worms penetrate, and the construction of their burrows. Although worms usually live near the surface, yet they burrow to a

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

places has certainly been accumulated by worms, yet it seemed hardly possible that this mould could have been brought up by worms from beneath the apparently sound floor. It seemed also extremely improbable that the thick walls, surrounding the room and still united to the concrete, had been undermined by worms, and had thus been caused to sink, being afterwards covered up by their castings. I therefore at first concluded that all the fine mould above the ruins had been washed down from the

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

unequally undermined by the worms. Even old massive walls may be undermined and subside; and no building is in this respect safe, unless the foundations lie 6 or 7 feet beneath the surface, at a depth at which worms cannot work. It is probable that many monoliths and some old walls have fallen down from having been undermined by worms. Worms prepare the ground in an excellent manner for the growth of fibrous-rooted plants and for seedlings of all kinds. They periodically expose the mould to the air

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

individuals, which are generally affected by the parasitic larv of a fly, must also be excepted, as they wander about during the day and die on the surface. After heavy rain succeeding dry weather, an astonishing number of dead worms may sometimes be seen lying on the ground. Mr. Galton informs me that on one such occasion (March, 1881), the dead worms averaged one for every two and a half paces in length on a walk in Hyde Park, four paces in width. He counted no less than 45 dead worms in one

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

waved about within two or three inches of several worms, but they took no notice. On one or two occasions, however, when acetic acid had been placed on the pellets, the worms appeared a little uneasy, and this was probably due to the irritation of their skins. The perception of such unnatural odours would be of no service to worms; and as such timid creatures would almost certainly exhibit some signs of any new impression, we may conclude that they did not perceive these odours. The result was

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

stones with which the cellar was paved; and in this case it is improbable that the worms could ever have obtained leaves. But the best evidence, known to me, of worms subsisting for at least considerable periods of time solely on the organic matter contained in earth, is afforded by some facts communicated to me by Dr. King. Near Nice large castings abound in extraordinary numbers, so that 5 or 6 were often found within the space of a square foot. They consist of fine, pale-coloured earth

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

ground beneath the old beech-trees in Knole Park, where worms appeared to be absent, was striking. A narrow path running across part of my lawn was paved in 1843 with small flagstones, set edgeways; but worms threw up many castings and weeds grew thickly between them. During several years the path was weeded and swept; but ultimately the weeds and worms prevailed, and the gardener ceased to sweep, merely mowing off the weeds, as often as the lawn was mowed. The path soon became almost covered up

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

summary 15 tons as the weight of the castings annually thrown up on an acre of land, each worm must annually eject 20 ounces. A full-sized casting at the mouth of a single burrow often exceeds, as we have seen, an ounce in weight; and it is probable that worms eject more than 20 full-sized castings during a year. If they eject annually more than 20 ounces, we may infer that the worms which live in an acre of pasture land must be less than 26,886 in number. Worms live chiefly in the superficial

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CHAPTER V. THE ACTION OF WORMS IN THE DENUDATION OF THE LAND. Evidence of the amount of denudation which the land has undergone Sub-aerial denudation The deposition of dust Vegetable mould, its dark colour and fine texture largely due to the action of worms The disintegration of rocks by the humus-acids Similar acids apparently generated within the bodies of worms The action of these acids facilitated by the continued movement of the particles of earth A thick bed of mould checks the

A2809    Review:     Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms]. Portland Daily Press (10 December): 1.   Text

The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online [page] 1 Vegetable Mould and Earth-Worms. By Charles Darwin, LL. D., F. R. S. (New York; D. Appleton Co.; Portland: Hoyt, Fogg Donham). The gloomy title of this monograph seems to promise little pleasure to readers not especially interested in the natural history of the lower forms of animal and vegetable life. But a few paragraphs are enough to prove that nature's processes are never without charm. Earth-worms have helped to bury walled towns and

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION. Summary of the part which worms have played in the history of the world Their aid in the disintegration of rocks In the denudation of the land In the preservation of ancient remains In the preparation of the soil for the growth of plants Mental powers of worms Conclusion. WORMS have played a more important part in the history of the world than most persons would at first suppose. In almost all humid countries they are extraordinarily numerous, and for their size

F1357    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

mingle the whole with vegetable d bris, and to saturate it with their intestinal secretions. Finally, no one who considers the facts given in this chapter on the burying of small objects and on the sinking of great stones left on the surface on the vast number of worms which live within a moderate extent of ground on the weight of the castings ejected from the mouth of the same burrow on the weight of all the castings ejected within a known time on a measured space will hereafter, as I believe

F1361    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1881. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. fifth thousand (corrected), and with textual changes. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

ing surface and thus afforded some shelter. The floors of the old rooms, halls and passages have generally sunk, partly from the settling of the ground, but chiefly from having been undermined by worms; and the sinking has commonly been greater in the middle than near the walls. The walls themselves, whenever their foundations do not lie at a great depth, have been penetrated and undermined by worms, and have consequently subsided. The unequal subsidence thus caused, probably explains the