The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms | Page 9

did they of the deepest and loudest tones of a
bassoon. They were indifferent to shouts, if care was taken that the
breath did not strike them. When placed on a table close to the keys of
a piano, which was played as loudly as possible, they remained
perfectly quiet.
Although they are indifferent to undulations in the air audible by us,
they are extremely sensitive to vibrations in any solid object. When the
pots containing two worms which had remained quite indifferent to the
sound of the piano, were placed on this instrument, and the note C in
the bass clef was struck, both instantly retreated into their burrows.
After a time they emerged, and when G above the line in the treble clef
was struck they again retreated. Under similar circumstances on
another night one worm dashed into its burrow on a very high note

being struck only once, and the other worm when C in the treble clef
was struck. On these occasions the worms were not touching the sides
of the pots, which stood in saucers; so that the vibrations, before
reaching their bodies, had to pass from the sounding board of the piano,
through the saucer, the bottom of the pot and the damp, not very
compact earth on which they lay with their tails in their burrows. They
often showed their sensitiveness when the pot in which they lived, or
the table on which the pot stood, was accidentally and lightly struck;
but they appeared less sensitive to such jars than to the vibrations of the
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 while setting a
trap; and this occurred in a part of Ireland where there were no moles. I
have been assured by a Volunteer that he has often seen many large
earth-worms crawling quickly about the grass, a few minutes after his
company had fired a volley with blank cartridges. The Peewit (Tringa
vanellus, Linn.) seems to know instinctively that worms will emerge if
the ground is made to tremble; for Bishop Stanley states (as I hear from
Mr. Moorhouse) that a young peewit kept in confinement used to stand
on one leg and beat the turf with the other leg until the worms crawled
out of their burrows, when they were instantly devoured. Nevertheless,
worms do not invariably leave their burrows when the ground is made
to tremble, as I know by having beaten it with a spade, but perhaps it
was beaten too violently.
The whole body of a worm is sensitive to contact. A slight puff of air
from the mouth causes an instant retreat. The glass plates placed over
the pots did not fit closely, and blowing through the very narrow chinks
thus left, often sufficed to cause a rapid retreat. They sometimes
perceived the eddies in the air caused by quickly removing the glass
plates. When a worm first comes out of its burrow, it generally moves
the much extended anterior extremity of its body from side to side in all

directions, apparently as an organ of touch; and there is some reason to
believe, as we shall see in the next chapter, that they are thus enabled to
gain a general notion of the form of an object. Of all their senses that of
touch, including in this term the perception of a vibration, seems much
the most highly developed.
In worms the sense of smell apparently is confined to the perception of
certain odours, and is feeble. They were quite indifferent to my breath,
as long as I breathed on them very gently. This was tried, because it
appeared possible that they might thus be warned of the approach of an
enemy. They exhibited the same indifference to my breath whilst I
chewed some tobacco, and while a pellet of cotton-wool with a few
drops of millefleurs perfume or of acetic acid was kept in my mouth.
Pellets of cotton- wool soaked in tobacco juice, in millefleurs perfume,
and in paraffin, were held with pincers and were waved about within
two or three inches of several worms, but they took no notice. On one
or two occasions, however, when acetic acid had been placed on the
pellets, the worms appeared a little uneasy, and this was probably due
to the irritation of their skins.