. The animal kingdom : arranged after its organization; forming a natural history of animals, and an introduction to comparative anatomy. Zoology. 398 Div. 3. ARTICULATA.—ANNELIDES. Class 1. 120 or more rin;js ; the bulge is towards its anterior tUird. Under the sixteenth ring; are two pores, of which the use is unknown. It pierces the ground in all directions, perforating it remarkably well, and subsists on roots, woody fibres, animal matter, &c. In the month of June it searches at night above ground for a mate. [It is especially in rich and well-manured soils that the Earthworm delights,
. The animal kingdom : arranged after its organization; forming a natural history of animals, and an introduction to comparative anatomy. Zoology. 398 Div. 3. ARTICULATA.—ANNELIDES. Class 1. 120 or more rin;js ; the bulge is towards its anterior tUird. Under the sixteenth ring; are two pores, of which the use is unknown. It pierces the ground in all directions, perforating it remarkably well, and subsists on roots, woody fibres, animal matter, &c. In the month of June it searches at night above ground for a mate. [It is especially in rich and well-manured soils that the Earthworm delights, particularly in gardens and meadow s ; they are extremely sensitive to movements of the earth ; and anglers, knowing well their temerity in this respect, take advantage of it, in order to obtain a supply of these animals for baits, by introducing a spade or fork into the ground, and stirring the soil, when they soon appear on the surface. We are indebted to Charles Darwin, Esq., for a remarkable and interesting memoir on the utility of this animal, read before the Geological Society. The worm casts, which so much annoy the gardener by deforming his smooth-shaven lawns, are of no small importance to the agriculturist; and this despised creature is not only of great service in loosening the earth, and rendering it permeable by air and water, but is also a most active and powerful agent in addiiiff to the depth of the sod, and in covering comparatively barren tracts with a superficial layer of wholesome mould. The author's attention was directed by Mr. Wedgwood, of Maer HaU, Staffordshire, to several fields, some of which had a few years before been covered with lime, and others with burnt marl and cinders, which substances in every case are now buried to the depth of some inches below the turf, just as if, as the farmers believe, the particles had worked themselves down. After shewing the impossibility of this supposed operation, the author affirms that the whole is due to the
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwe, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectzoology
