. Annual report of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University and the Agricultural Experiment Station. New York State College of Agriculture; Cornell University. Agricultural Experiment Station; Agriculture -- New York (State). 1164 Rural School Leaflet THE EARTHWORM Anna Botsford Comstock HE earthworm is a creature without eyes, with no sense of smell nor organs of hearing, and with no legs nor arms; but the more we study it, the less sorry we are for it and the more we admire the way in which it succeeds despite its natural drawbacks. First of all, the earthworm does not
. Annual report of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University and the Agricultural Experiment Station. New York State College of Agriculture; Cornell University. Agricultural Experiment Station; Agriculture -- New York (State). 1164 Rural School Leaflet THE EARTHWORM Anna Botsford Comstock HE earthworm is a creature without eyes, with no sense of smell nor organs of hearing, and with no legs nor arms; but the more we study it, the less sorry we are for it and the more we admire the way in which it succeeds despite its natural drawbacks. First of all, the earthworm does not need eyes because it lives below the surface of the soil, where eyes would be of little use. Neither does ^v it need a sense of smell, because it has to swallow the soil wherever it lives and whatever the odor. Although it has no organs for hearing, it is very sensitive to vibration; this sense is so keen that it knows by the jar of the robin's feet when hopping over the ground that this enemy is approaching, and it squirms down out of reach as rapidly as possible. Neither does it need legs, for these would be in the way. Its method of locomotion is most excellent for a burrower: on the underside of its body there is on each of the segments, except the first three and the last, a double row of bristles, which project backward — that is, in an opposite direction from that in which the worm is moving. By stretching out these elastic segments and catching hold of the soil by these bristly hooks, and then contracting the segments, the worm moves fast enough for all its needs. It would seem at first sight that the earthworm would be very wise indeed if it knew at which end of its body was its head; but the earthworm is not likely to make a mistake in this respect so readily as are we. In fact, it knows much more than we could believe possible of such a lowly creature. The earthworm has a rather remarkable mouth: the upper lip is extended into a proboscis and is used as an elephan
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