Part 9 (1/2)
The acids in the earthwor on the leaves, help make other acids which reh the earthworrains of sand which ritty whenof soil lying upon the bed rock hastens its decay; for the earthworm's burrow runs down four to six feet, sorinds up and fertilizes so ith leaf-riculture calls ”hu in connection with the building of his house He begins, as we do, by digging the cellar; but there he stops, for _his_ house is _all_ cellar! Heaside the earth as he advances; (2) by sing earth and passing it through his body, thusthe little mounds you see on the surface
THE EARTHWORM SYSTEM AT PANAMA
A principle si operations is frequently e the Pana out swah a tube into other swaet rid of thethe earth away the wor out his ”nose”--as you have often seen hiround; h the fertile soil the earthwor and the work of the ant, the earthworm doesn't throw the dirt around carelessly He casts it out, first on one side and then on the other; using his tail to spread it about neatly
THE TILING IN THE EARTHWORM'S HOUSE
The walls of the earthworm's house are plastered, too At first they are er than his body Then he coats the our cups and saucers, and foron the walls at the stations of a city subway When this earthwor, hard and s scratched as hehallway It also enables hithens the walls
The burrohich run far down into the ground, as all finally do toward Autumn, end in a little cha the hot, dry days of August and there he spends the Winter--usually with several coether for warmth
AND RUGS ON THE FLOORS!
Sometimes the Summer and Winter residences are quite ae cha two, sometimes three, chambers of its own--like a fashi+onable apartment with its -rooms in Greek and Roman palaces And the earthworeneral practice to pave these chambers with little pebbles about the size of a mustard-seed This is to help keep the worround In addition to the s with lovely leaf patterns like the Oriental rugs that are so highly prized; and, as in the case of genuine Oriental rugs, no two patterns are alike These rugs are leaves which the earthwors into his burrow, not for food but for house furnishi+ng When used for house furnishi+ng they are placed in the entrance-hall; that is to say, they are used to coat thein contact with the ground The mouth of the burrow, of course, is just where it is coldest at night in the Sureat deal of his time in the front of his house The surface of the earth, you know, cools very rapidly after sunset and the dew on the grass in theis so cold it makes your bare feet ache The worh his skin and must keep it moist, but at the sah!
PEBBLE-FORT DEFENSES AGAINST THE FOE
So he is very careful to keep the front door closed This he does by stopping it up with leaves, leaf stems, and sticks He also protects the door with little heaps of ser size than those he uses for paving the floor of his cha to keep out drafts these pebbles serve another purpose
As our ancestors, the cave-builders, barred the door with boulders to keep out bears and other unwelcome callers, so the earthworms are protected by the pebbles, to a certain extent, froed worm Because of these little forts, the earthworms can remain with more safety near the doorway and enjoy the warht have reproduced Corot's ”Morning” as a kind of landscape the earthworm enjoys!)
II THE MIND OF THE EARTHWORM
From all of which you can see the earthworht boy! If ere as bright, according to our opportunities, ould probably have answered long ago such puzzles as the question whether there is really anybody at ho of the shell, and other great scientific problems of our day
WHERE MR EARTHWORM KEEPS HIS BRAIN
Just as we have little brains in the tips of our fingers, the earthworms have brains in the ends of their ”noses” They have neither eyes nor ears, but, like that wonderful girl, Helen Keller, they ree, by the development of the sense of touch They acquire quite a little knowledge of Botany, for exaood to eat, but they knohich is the ”petiole” and which is the ”base” They always drag leaves into their burrows by the sh the door And it is not by mere instinct that they do this Supply worrow in the region where they live, and they will experiment with them until they find just the best way in which to pull them into the burrows
After that they will always take hold of them so, without further experiment That is the majority of them will do this; for earthworms are like other little people--all of them are not equally ambitious or studious
And the earthwor about Geoles of various shapes and pretend to the wor them near the mouths of the burrows Then remove the leaves hich the burrows are stopped The worms will pull in the slips to close the door and they will--le because that is the narrowest point
THE EARTHWORM'S TASTE IN MUSIC
So you see the earthwore of Botany and Geometry, and his taste for landscape But this is not all He also has opinions about et on his nerves Put wor when they are lying outside their burrows set the pot on the piano and strike the note C in the bass clef
Instantly they will pull the at the sound of G above the line in the treble clef Although they cannot hear, they are sensitive to vibrations, and these are carried fro-board of the piano into the pot They are less sensitive when the pot itself is tapped The h them
WHY THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM