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March 30/72

[in margin:] Bear on Disintegration Habits & Teg Down

I have been considering again William's section of Teg Down & looking at the earth. High up on slopes & on sides on each side the mould only 3-4 inches thick & very black & contains very little or even no carb. of lime, ie does not effervesce.

[insertion:] Can a supply of Earth come slowly for that downs above — if they are flat Downs above

So that if there is several washing down how is it formed? If much adding worms burrowing into chalk it wd contain as much carb. of lime — On other hand the castings when turn on surface wd have been dissolved — Yet. W. [William] is convinced as I am that there is much washing down. — This rather greater thickness of mould at bottom of valley agrees with them, & the percolation of mould elsewhere into the chalk. — In fact when mould only few inches thick many castings & then quite black; & here we hope evidence, as I had in my field over red clay This

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that worms live almost exclusively in surface — In certain considerable spaces of the valley the castings & the mould whitish & chiefly formed of C. of Lime. — What can make the worms percolate the chalk in these spaces alone?

I buried leaves in Garden 6 weeks ago & lately looked at then, all rotted & worms abounded; Frank finds bits of bark & straw in gizzard so that I believe they certainly select decaying veg. matter & swallow so much Earth at least in large part, as means of burrowing. This shown by what I saw, when pressing up through 23 inches of yellow sand on sand-walk & better by the 6 wider over floor in Beaulieu abbey. — W. washed the castings several times so as to remove all mud & out of 33 gr of castings brought up beneath the tiles from rubbish below 19 gr.

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consisted of minute particles of quartz & other rocks; (perhaps from disintegrated mortar) Some of the fragments of slaty rock was between 1/10 & 1/20 of inch in length & vast numbers were 1/10 of inch in diameter. The larger proportion of grains of quartz & rock [unite] castings & their size shows that the casting are largely due to the means & act of burrowing. — It was remarkable that some few grains, consisted of brick & were well rounded & thus moist. I think be due to action of the muscular gizzard of the worms; & considering how much matter annually passing through their alimentary canal, thus triturating action in the formation of the finest mould ought not to be quite [implanted] considering the disintegration of mushy beneath the turf.