RECORD: Bennett, J. Risdon. 1882. [Review of Earthworms]. Jenner and his successors. Leisure Hour Monthly Library, vol. 31: 22.

REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe. 7.2021. RN1

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[page] 22

And here we cannot but stop to notice the remarkable confirmation that is thus given to the recent wonderful and beautiful observations of Darwin as set forth in his last work on "The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms." Darwin has shown beyond all dispute, as the result of his incomparable researches, that though "the plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions, long before he existed the land was in fact regularly ploughed, and still continues to be ploughed, by earthworms." He has shown us that the smoothness which we admire in a wide, turf-covered expanse "is mainly due to all the inequalities having been slowly levelled by worms," and that "the whole of the superficial mould over any such expanse has passed, and will pass again, every few years, through the bodies of worms!" It was left for Pasteur to show that these innumerable and indefatigable ploughmen, whilst rendering to man such efficient service, may also be the carriers of the seeds of disease and death.


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Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

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