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Show 30 HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. I. waved about within two or three inches of several worms, but they took no notice. O_n one or two occasions, however, when acetic acid bad been placed on the pellets, the worms appeared a little .un.eas!, and t~is :vas probably due to the untatwn of thmr skins. The perception of such unnatural odours would be of no service to worms ; and as such timid creatures would almost certainly exhibit some signs of any new impression,. we may conclude that they did not perceive these odours. The result was different when cabbage-leaves and pieces of onion were employed, both of which are devoured with much relish by worms. Small square pieces of fresh and half-decayed cabbage-leaves and of onion bulbs were on nine occasions buried in my pots, beneath about i of an inch of. common garden soil; and they were always discover:d by the worms. One bit of cabbage was discovered and removed in the course of two hours ; three were removed by the next morning, that is, after a single night ; two others after two nights; and the seventh bit after three nights. Two pieces of onion were CHAP. I. THEIR SENSES. 31 discovered and removed after three nights. Bits of fresh raw meat, of which worms are very fond, were buried, and were not discovered within forty-eight hours, during which time they had not become putrid. The earth above the various buried objects wa:; generally pressed down only slightly, so as not to prevent the emission of any odour. On two occasions, however, the surface was· well watered, and was thus rendered somewhat compact. After the bits of cabbage and onion had been removed, I looked beneath them to see whether the worms had accidentally come up from below, but there was no sign of a burrow ; and twice the buried objects were laid on pieces of tin-foil which were not in the least displaced. It is of course possible that the worms whilst moving about on the surface of the ground, with their tails affixed within their burrows, may have poked their heads into the places where the above objects were buried ; but I have never seen worms acting in this manner. Some pieces of cabbage-leaf and of onion were twice buried beneath very fine ferruginous sand, which was slightly pressed down and well |