Search Results - The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online

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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

. Castings of a similar nature continued to be ejected from the burrow during the whole of the following day. As doubts have been expressed by some writers whether worms ever swallow earth solely for the sake of making their burrows, some additional cases may be given. A mass of fine reddish sand, 23 inches in thickness, left on the ground for nearly two years, had been penetrated in many places by worms; and their castings consisted partly of the reddish sand and partly of black earth brought up from

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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

continued dry weather and severe cold. In Scandinavia, according to Eisen, and in Scotland, according to Mr. Lindsay Carnagie, the burrows run down to a depth of from 7 to 8 feet; in North Germany, according to Hoff-meister, from 6 to 8 feet, but Hensen says, from 3 to 6 feet. This latter observer has seen worms frozen at a depth of 1 feet beneath the surface. I have not myself had many opportunities for observation, but I have often met with worms at depths of 3 to 4 feet. In a bed of fine

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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

with them, mingled with fragments of other kinds of leaves, drawn in to a depth of 4 or 5 inches. Worms often remain, as formerly stated, for a long time close to the mouths of their burrows, apparently for warmth; and the basket-like structures formed of leaves would keep their bodies from coming into close contact with the cold damp earth. That they habitually rested on the pine-leaves, was rendered probable by their clean and almost polished surfaces. The burrows which run far down into the

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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

. King also observed that the passage up these towers hardly ever ran in the same exact line with the underlying burrow, so that a thin cylindrical object such as a haulm of grass, could not be passed down the tower into the burrow; and this change of direction probably serves in some manner as a protection. When a worm comes to the surface to eject earth, the tail protrudes, but when it collects leaves its head must protrude. Worms therefore must have the power of turning round in their closely

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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

sandy earth of which they were formed still cohered with considerable tenacity. The late Mr. John Scott of the Botanic Gardens near Calcutta made many observations for me on worms living under the hot and humid climate of Bengal. The castings abound almost everywhere, in jungles and in the open ground, to a greater degree, as he thinks, than in England. After the water has subsided from the flooded rice-fields, the whole surface very soon becomes studded with castings a fact which much

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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

in vast numbers: these consist of little oval or conical bodies, from about the 1/20 to rather above 1/10 of an inch in length. They are obviously voided by a distinct species of worms. The period during which worms near Calcutta display such extraordinary activity lasts for only a little over two months, namely, during the cool season after the rains. At this time they are generally found within about 10 inches beneath the surface. During the hot season they burrow to a greater depth, and are

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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

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. Sufficient 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

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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

fragments were now found at from 4 to 5 inches beneath the surface. So that in this interval of 6 years, about 1 inch of mould had been added to the superficial layer. I am surprised that a greater quantity had not been brought up during the whole 21 years, for in the closely underlying black, peaty soil there were many worms. It is, however, probable that formerly, whilst the land remained poor, worms were scanty; and the mould would then have accumulated slowly. The average annual increase of

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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

average annual rate of from 2 to 22 of an inch. But in this district when a ploughed field is first laid down in grass, the mould accumulates at a much slower rate. The rate, also, must become very much slower after a bed of mould, several inches in thickness, has been formed; for the worms then live chiefly near the surface, and burrow down to a greater depth so as to bring up fresh earth from below, only during the winter when the weather is very cold (at which time worms were found in this field

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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

from above, loses its dark colour in the course of centuries; but whether this is probable I do not know. Worms appear to act in the same manner in New Zealand as in Europe; for Professor J. von Haast has described* a section near the coast, consisting of mica-schist, covered by 5 or 6 feet of loess, above which about 12 inches of vegetable soil had accumulated. Between the loess and the mould there was a layer from 3 to 6 inches in thickness, consisting of cores, implements, flakes, and chips

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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

thirty-five years, as far as I could judge, about 1 inch; and this must have been due to the brick-rubbish beneath the more protuberant parts having been undermined by worms. At this rate the upper surface of the stone, if it had been left undisturbed, would have sunk to the general level of the field in 247 years; but before this could have occurred, some earth would have been washed down by heavy rain from the castings on the raised border of turf over the upper surface of the stone. The

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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

examined the same part of the field shortly before it was rolled, and it then abounded with fresh castings. Worms do not work in dry weather, during the summer, or in winter during severe frosts. If we assume that they work for only half the year though this is too low an estimate then the worms in this field would eject during the year, 8 387 pounds per square yard; or 18 12 tons per acre, assuming the whole surface to be equally productive in castings. In the foregoing cases some of the

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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

enclosed common land, at a height of about 700 ft. above the sea, at some little distance from Leith Hill Tower. The surface was clothed with short, fine turf, and had never been disturbed by the hand of man. The spot selected appeared neither particularly favourable nor the reverse for worms; but I have often noticed that castings are especially abundant on common land, and this may, perhaps, be attributed to the poorness of the soil. The vegetable mould was here between three and four inches

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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

have been buried so effectually, in large part through the action of worms, that they have been discovered in recent times solely through various accidents. The enormous beds of rubbish, several yards in thickness, which underlie many cities, such as Rome, Paris, and London, the lower ones being of great antiquity, are not here referred to, as they have not been in any way acted on by worms. When we consider how much matter is daily brought into a great city for building, fuel, clothing and food

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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 fields; but on this day the earth was a little raised over the mouths of the burrows, or castings were ejected, at ten fresh points. These were defaced. It should be understood that when a fresh burrow is spoken of, this generally means only that an old burrow has been re-opened. Mr. Farrer was repeatedly struck with the pertinacity with which the worms re-opened their old burrows, even when no earth was ejected from them. I have often observed the same fact, and generally the mouths of

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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

open burrows on the broken summit of the eastern wall (W in Fig. 8); and, on September 15th, other burrows similarly situated were seen. It should also be noted that in the perpendicular side of the trench (which was much deeper than is represented in Fig. 8) three recent burrows were seen, which ran obliquely far down beneath the base of the old wall. We thus see that many worms lived beneath the floor and the walls of the atrium at the time when the excavations were made; and that they

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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

Roman ruins presently to be described. Finally, we may infer that a large part of the fine vegetable mould, which covered the floor and the broken-down walls of this villa, in some places to a thickness of 16 inches, was brought up from below by worms. From facts hereafter to be given there can be no doubt that some of the finest earth thus brought up will have been washed down the sloping surface of the field during every heavy shower of rain. If this had not occurred a greater amount of mould

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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

circumstances, Mr. Ramsay does not doubt that the earth brought up by the worms since the pavement was first laid down, or rather since the decay of the mortar allowed the worms to burrow through it, and therefore within a much shorter time than the eighty-seven years, has sufficed to cause the sinking of the pavement to the above amount, except close to the house, where the ground beneath would have been kept nearly dry. Beaulieu Abbey, Hampshire. This abbey was destroyed by Henry VIII., and there now

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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

sand, little fragments of rock, bricks or tile; and such substances could hardly be agreeable, and certainly not nutritious, to worms. My son dug holes in several places within the former walls of the abbey, at a distance of several yards from the above described bricked squares. He did not find any tiles, though these are known to occur in some other parts, but he came in one spot to concrete on which tiles had once rested. The fine mould beneath the turf on the sides of the several holes

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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

its dark colour and in its texture from the underlying sand or rubble. In the specimens sent to me, the mould resembled that which lies immediately beneath the turf in old pasture-land, excepting that it often contained small stones, too large to have passed through the bodies of worms. But the trenches above described were dug in fields, none of which were in pasture; and all had been long cultivated. Bearing in mind the remarks made in reference to Silchester on the effects of long-continued

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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

building, their disintegration in the course of time, and the sifting action of worms, would ultimately conceal the whole beneath fine earth. Conclusion. The cases given in this chapter show that worms have played a considerable part in the burial and concealment of several Roman and other old buildings in England; but no doubt the washing down of soil from the neighbouring higher lands, and the deposition of dust, have together aided largely in the work of concealment. Dust would be apt to

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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

and again to the surface in the castings of worms. Worms, on the other hand, add largely to the organic matter in the soil by the astonishing number of half-decayed leaves which they draw into their burrows to a depth of 2 or 3 inches. They do this chiefly for obtaining food, but partly for closing the mouths of their burrows and for lining the upper part. The leaves which they consume are moistened, torn into small shreds, partially digested, and intimately commingled with * I have given some

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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

sand, consisting of minute particles of silex coated with the red oxide of iron; and the burrows, which the worms made through this sand, were lined or coated in the usual manner with their castings, formed of the sand mingled with their intestinal secretions and the refuse of the digested leaves; and this sand had almost wholly lost its red colour. When small portions of it were placed under the microscope, most of the grains were seen to be transparent and colourless, owing to the

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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

carbonate of lime and on the oxides of iron. It is, also, known that some of these acids, which were called long ago by Th nard azohumic, are enabled to dissolve colloid silica in proportion to the nitrogen which they contain.* In the formation of these latter acids worms probably afford some aid, for Dr. H. Johnson informs me that by Nesslers test he found 0 018 per cent. of ammonia in their castings. The several humus-acids, which appear, as we have just seen, to be generated within the

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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

in the ground. The living roots of plants, moreover, as Sachs and others have shown, quickly corrode and leave their impressions on polished slabs of marble, dolomite and phosphate of lime. They will attack even basalt and sandstone.* But we are not here concerned with agencies which are wholly independent of the action of worms. The combination of any acid with a base is much facilitated by agitation, as fresh surfaces are thus continually brought into contact. This will be thoroughly

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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

therefore necessary to obtain flints for building purposes from the bed of red clay overlying the chalk (the residue of its dissolution by rain-water) or from the chalk itself. Not only do worms aid indirectly in the chemical disintegration of rocks, but there is good reason to believe that they likewise act in a direct and mechanical manner on the smaller particles. All the species which swallow earth are furnished with gizzards; and these are lined with so thick a chitinous membrane, that

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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

of the earth, in pots in which worms were kept and had already made their burrows; and very many of these beads and fragments were picked up and swallowed by the worms, for they were found in their castings, intestines, and gizzards. They even swallowed the coarse red dust, formed by the pounding of the tiles. Nor can it be supposed that they mistook the beads and fragments for food; for we have seen that their taste is delicate enough to distinguish between different kinds of leaves. It is

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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

I will now give such evidence of attrition as I have been able to collect. In the gizzards of some worms dug out of a thin bed of mould over the chalk, there were many well-rounded small fragments of chalk, and two fragments of the shells of a land-mollusc (as ascertained by their microscopical structure), which latter were not only rounded but somewhat polished. The calcareous concretions formed in the calciferous glands, which are often found in their gizzards, intestines, and occasionally

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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

There were also very many particles of hard mortar, about half of which were well rounded; and it is not credible that these could have suffered so much corrosion from the action of carbonic acid in the course of only seven years. Much better evidence of the attrition of hard objects in the gizzards of worms, is afforded by the state of the small fragments of tiles or bricks, and of concrete in the castings thrown up where ancient buildings once stood. As all the mould covering a field passes

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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

have passed several times through the gizzards of worms, be rejected, notwithstanding its inherent probability, we must then assume that in all the above cases the many rounded fragments found in the castings had all accidentally undergone much attrition before they were swallowed; and this is highly improbable. On the other hand it must be stated that fragments of ornamental tiles, somewhat harder than common tiles or bricks, which had been swallowed only once by worms kept in confinement

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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

them appeared a little worn, though not rounded. Notwithstanding these cases, if we consider the evidence above given, there can be little doubt that the fragments, which serve as millstones in the gizzards of worms, suffer, when of a not very hard texture, some amount of attrition; and that the smaller particles in the earth, which is habitually swallowed in such astonishingly large quantities by worms, are ground together and are thus levigated. If this be the case, the terra tenuissima, the

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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

even on a level field, to leeward, whilst they are soft; and in like manner the pellets when they are dry. If the wind blows in nearly the direction of an inclined surface, the flowing down of the castings is much aided. The observations on which these several statements are founded must now be given in some detail. Castings when first ejected are viscid and soft; during rain, at which time worms apparently prefer to eject them, they are still softer; so that I have sometimes thought that

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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

will never be removed as long as the wood lasts; and mould will here tend to accumulate to the depth at which worms can work. I tried to procure evidence as to how much mould is blown, whilst in the state of castings, by our wet southern gales to the northeast, over open and flat land, by looking to the level of the surface on opposite sides of old trees and hedge-rows; but I failed owing to the unequal growth of the roots of trees and to most pasture-land having been formerly ploughed. On an

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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

on the crowns; but this would naturally follow from the finer earth having been washed from the crowns into the furrows before the land was well clothed with turf; and it is impossible to tell what part worms may have played in the work. Nevertheless from what we have seen, castings would certainly tend to flow and to be washed during heavy rain from the crowns into the furrows. But as soon as a bed of fine earth had by any means been accumulated in the furrows, it would be more favourable for

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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

and the particles composing it are thus rubbed together. By these means fresh surfaces are continually exposed to the action of the carbonic acid in the soil, and of the humus-acids which appear to be still more efficient in the decomposition of rocks. The generation of the humus-acids is probably hastened during the digestion of the many half-decayed leaves which worms consume. Thus the particles of earth, forming the superficial mould, are subjected to conditions eminently favourable for

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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

delivered into the sea by the Mississippi, that its enormous drainage-area must on an average be lowered 00263 of an inch each year; and this would suffice in four and half million years to lower the whole drainage-area to the level of the sea-shore. So that, if a small fraction of the layer of fine earth, 2 of an inch in thickness, which is annually brought to the surface by worms, is carried away, a great result cannot fail to be produced within a period which no geologist considers extremely

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F2173 Periodical contribution: Darwin, C. R. 1883. [Letter to Peter Price]. Naturalists' Society. Western Mail no. 4337 (6 April): 4. Text Image

Darwin, C. R. 1883. [Letter to Peter Price.] Naturalists' Society. Western Mail (6 April): Issue 4337. [page] 4 DISTRICT NEWS. CARDIFFF. NATURALISTS' SOCIETY.— A members' night in connection with the Naturalists' Society was held at the Town-hall, Cardiff, on Thursday evening, when the ex-president took the chair. [...] Mr. Peter Price drew attention to the theory of Darwin as to the vast amount of work accomplished by worms in the ground in changing the physical features of the land, and

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A1333 Review: Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms] Analyses of books. Journal of Science, 3, 3d ser., (December): 671-73. Text PDF

soil, there is no doubt. From this point of view it is to be remarked that the contents of the intestines of worms and the castings themselves are always acid. A considerable quantity of dead leaves, c., are also drawn into the burrows to the depth of 3 to 4 inches, and thus the organic matter in the soil is increased. As regards the acid secreted by worms, or otherwise produced in their systems, we would suggest that it is not improbably the oxalic, a solvent well adapted for effecting the

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A2964 Periodical contribution: [Dallas, W. S.] 1881. [Review of Earthworms]. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5th ser. 8: 443-6. Text PDF

who hold them in any degree of esteem (and that manifested in a way that the worms themselves can hardly be expected to appreciate very highly) are the anglers, who occasionally use worms as bait, and then, no doubt, follow the advice of the old piscatorial writer and handle them as if they loved them, always barring the insertion of the hook, which it would be hard to interpret into a sign of affection. This feeling of indifference, perhaps verging upon contempt, has been abundantly reflected

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A2964 Periodical contribution: [Dallas, W. S.] 1881. [Review of Earthworms]. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5th ser. 8: 443-6. Text PDF

be ploughed, by earth-worms. But the most striking action of worms in working the soil consists in the transport of great quantities of mould to the surface, where it can be exposed to the action of the air, spread over the surface by rains, and thus serve as new nourishment for growing plants. This is effected by the worms coming to the mouths of their burrows with their intestines full of mould, which is then discharged upon the surface in the well-known convoluted bodies known as worm-casts

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A1160 Review: Anon. 1881. [Review of] The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms: Mr. Darwin on worms. The Times (10 October): 4. Text PDF

the world is swarming with worms; probably all over there are in every acre of land from 33,000 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 of such casts. In some cases, if spread over the ground, they would measure one-fifth of an inch in depth per year, equal to one inch of earth brought up from below, passed through the

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A1142 Review: Anon. 1881. [Review of] The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits. The Spectator (22 October): 1334-6. Text PDF

so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due to all the inequalities having been slowly levelled by worms. It is a marvellous reflection that the whole of the superficial mould over any such expanse has passed, and will again pass, every few years through the bodies of worms. The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions; but long before he existed the land was, in feet, regularly ploughed, and still continues to be thus ploughed, by earth-worms. It may be doubted

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A1308 Review: Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms] The New York Times (17 December): 4. Text PDF

will constantly be sending us to the earth-worm. It appears that the earth-worm, who bores his way through the ground by swallowing the earth in his path, was the original inventor of the system of propelling vessels by pumping water at the bow and pumping it out again at the stern. The amount of work done by the worms in excavating the earth is enormous, but their favorite occupation is burying ruined cities. It has always been a mystery how the remains of Roman and Grecian cities have been

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A2248 Review: C. 1881. [Review of Earthworms]. A new testimonial for the earthworm. Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardener, 3 (27 October): 377. Text PDF

, digesting what they swallow by the aid of a singular alkaline secretion, then ejecting the most of it for the benefit of the soil . Everyone is aware that stamping upon the ground makes the worms quit their holes, but, nevertheless, Dr. Darwin thinks they are deaf as well as blind, they are alarmed through the sense of touch. The popular belief that associates worms with the decomposition of dead bodies has nothing of fact to support it, their food being purely vegetable. They remove decaying leaves

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A2009 Review: Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms]. Mr. Darwin's new work. [source untraced] (2 November). [CUL-DAR226_054] Text PDF

knowledge by giant strides during the fifty years which he has spent in the most laborious work. Now, at an age when it is given to few to retain unimpaired their mental powers, he appears as fresh as ever with a new work on so apparently insignificant a creature as the earth worm. The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits (Murray) completes studies begun quite at the outset of his [page] 46

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A2009 Review: Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms]. Mr. Darwin's new work. [source untraced] (2 November). [CUL-DAR226_054] Text PDF

, to fit the earth for the habitation of nobler creatures, and, feeble as they individually are, the result of their combined effort has been stupendous. Just as enormous masses of rock, forming in some instances whole mountain ranges, have been built up by foraminifera, so the alluvial soil of the earth has passed repeatedly through the bodies of worms for untold ages to prepare it for plant life. Nothing could exceed the ingenuity of the experiments devised by Mr. Darwin to induce the worms to

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A2410 Review: Anon. 1881. [Review of Earthworms]. New England Farmer (Boston, Massachusetts), (10 December): 2. Text

The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online [page] 2 THE FORMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULD THROUGH THE ACTION OF WORMS. By Charles Darwin, F.R.S. To the agricultural reader this work of Mr. Darwin's will have a decided interest, as bearing upon the theory of soil formation, and the comparative values of various soils for agricultural purposes. The author's theory, is, in brief, that for the formation of what we call vegetable mould we are principally indebted to the labors of earthworms, through

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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

CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . Page 1 7 CHAPTER I. HABITS OF WORMS. Nature of the sites inhabited Can live long under water Nocturnal Wander about at night Often lie close to the mouths of their burrows, and are thus destroyed in large numbers by birds Structure Do not possess eyes, but can distinguish between light and darkness Retreat rapidly when brightly illuminated, not by a reflex action Power of attention Sensitive to heat and cold Completely deaf Sensitive to vibrations and to

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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

with Perrier that this must be of quite subordinate importance, seeing that the object is already attained by stones being generally present in the gizzards and intestines of worms. [page] ( 55

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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

CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . Page 1 7 CHAPTER I. HABITS OF WORMS. Nature of the sites inhabited Can live long under water Nocturnal Wander about at night Often lie close to the mouths of their burrows, and are thus destroyed in large numbers by birds Structure Do not possess eyes, but can distinguish between light and darkness Retreat rapidly when brightly illuminated, not by a reflex action Power of attention Sensitive to heat and cold Completely deaf Sensitive to vibrations and to