F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. Habits of worms—continued. Manner in which worms seize objects—Their power of suction—The instinct of plugging up the mouths of their burrows—Stones piled over the burrows—The advantages thus gained—Intelligence shown by worms in their manner of plugging up their burrows —Various kinds of leaves and other objects thus used—Triangles of paper—Summary of reasons for believing that worms exhibit some intelligence—Means by which they excavate their burrows, by pushing away

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

Flowing down of castings, 264 Fluid, digestive, of worms, 38 Food of worms, leaves, 36 earth, 102 Foster, Michael, on the pancreatic ferment, 38 on the acidity of the contents of the intestines, 53 Foundations, deep, of the Roman buildings at Wroxeter, 229 Fredericq, L on, on the digestive juice of worms, 38 Furrows on old ploughed fields, 295 Galton, Mr., on the number of dead worms, 14 Geikie, Archibald, on Denudation, 235 controverts . de Beaumont's views on Denudation, 292 James

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CONTENTS. 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. Pages 308-316 Index…. 317-328 [page viii

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

INDEX. Denudation of the land, 232 Depth to which worms burrow, 111 Digaster, 249 Digestion of worms, 38 ─extra-stomachal, 44 Disintegration of rocks aided by worms, 238 Distribution of worms, 122 Down, amount of earth here brought annually to the surface, 139 Downs near Winchester, valleys in, 304 Dust, distance transported, 237-239 Earth, amount of, brought to the surface by worms, 131 ─amount of, which flows down a given slope, 269 ─swallowed as food, 102 ─weight of, ejected from a single

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. 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. Pages 308 316 INDEX 317 328 [page viii

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CHAP. IV. OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS. 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

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

fields, 295 Currents of air, worms sensitive to, 29 Dancer, Mr., on the action and number of worms, 148, 162 Deafness of worms, 26 Débris over the Roman remains at Silchester, 203 Decay of leaves not hastened by the secretion with which they are bathed, 39 [page] 32

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. 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

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

Currents of air, worms sensitive to, 29 Dancer, Mr., on the action and number of worms, 148, 162 Deafness of worms, 26 D bris over the Roman remains at Silchester, 203 Decay of leaves not hastened by the secretion with which they are bathed, 39 [page] 32

A2415    Review:     Anon. 1882. [Review of Earthworms]. The early Darwin catches the worm. Daily American (Nashville, Tennessee), (11 November): 2.   Text

The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online [page] 2 Mr. Charles Darwin's most recent book treats of the formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms. We have seen, he says, discussing their mutual qualities, that worms are timid. It may be doubted whether they suffer as much pain when injured as them seem to express by their contortions. Judging by their eagerness for certain kinds of food they must enjoy the pleasure of eating. Their sexual passion is strong enough to overcome for

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

but I fully agree 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] 5

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. I. individuals, which are generally affected by the parasitic larvæ 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

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. I. piano; and their sensitiveness to jars varied much at different times. It has often been said that if the ground is beaten or otherwise made to tremble, worms believe that they are pursued by a mole and leave their burrows. From one account that I have received, I have no doubt that this is often the case; but a gentleman informs me that he lately saw eight or ten worms leave their burrows and crawl about the grass on some boggy land on which two men had just trampled

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CHAP. II. DEPTH OF THEIR BURROWS. that worms probably could not live on ordinary vegetable mould, though he admits that they might be nourished to some extent by leaf-mould.* But we have seen that worms eagerly devour raw meat, fat, and dead worms; and ordinary mould can hardly fail to contain many ova, larvæ, and small living or dead creatures, spores of crypto-gamic plants, and micrococci, such as those which give rise to saltpetre. These various organisms, together with some cellulose from

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

CHAP. III. UNDERMINED BY WORMS. round the great fragments of stone at both these places, their sinking does not appear to have been sensibly aided by their weight, though this was considerable.* On the number of worms which live within a given space. —We will now show, firstly, what a vast number of worms live unseen by us beneath our feet, and, secondly, the actual weight of the earth which they bring up to the surface within a given space and within a given time. Hensen, who has published so

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

BURIAL OF THE REMAINS CHAP. IV. 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 Ched worth and Brading—The remains of the Roman town at Silchester —The nature of the débris by which the remains are

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

that acetic acid is so deadly a poison to worms that Perrier found that a glass rod dipped into this acid and then into a considerable body of water in which worms were immersed, invariably killed them quickly. On the morning after the barrels had been upset, the heaps of worms which lay dead on the ground were so amazing, that if Mr. Miller had not seen them, he could not have thought it possible for such numbers to have existed in the space. As further evidence of the large number of worms

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. 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 * White of Selborne has some good remarks

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. I. no sign of a burrow; and twice the buried objects were laid on pieces of tin-foil which were not in the least displaced. It is of course possible that the worms whilst moving about on the surface of the ground, with their tails affixed within their burrows, may have poked their heads into the places where the above objects were buried; but I have never seen worms acting in this manner. Some pieces of cabbage-leaf and of onion were twice buried beneath very fine

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. II. plugging-up process may serve for all the above purposes. Whatever the motive may be, it appears that worms much dislike leaving the mouths of their burrows open. Nevertheless they will reopen them at night, whether or not they can afterwards close them. Numerous open burrows may be seen on recently-dug ground, for in this case the worms eject their castings in cavities left in the ground, or in the old burrows, instead of piling them over the mouths of their burrows

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. II. in this case it is improbable that the worms could ever have obtained leaves. Mr. A. C. Horner confirms this account, as he has seen castings in the cellars of his house, which is an old one, at Tonbridge. 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

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

BURIAL OF THE REMAINS CHAP. IV. 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

F1362    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. 6th thousand (corrected). London: John Murray.   Text   Image   PDF

unequally from being 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

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. 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. Pages 131 177 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

F1364    Book:     Darwin, C. R. 1882. The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. Seventh thousand. Corrected by Francis Darwin. 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