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Show 66 HABITS OF WORMS. CnAP. II. in this manner and to try different methods makes a ncar approach to intelligence. . In the first place 227 withered leaves of varw. us 1n .n d s, mostly of English plants, were pulled out of worm-burrows in several places. Of these, 181 bad been drawn into the b urrows by Or near their tips, so that the foot-stalk projected nearly upright fronl t~e mouth of the burrow ; 20 had been drawn m by their bases, and in this case the tips projected from the burrows ; and 26 had been seized near the middle, so that these had been drawn in transversely and were much crumpled. Therefore 80 per cent. (always using the nearest whole number) had been urawn in by the tip, 9 per cent. by the base or fo ot-stalk, and 11 per cent. transversely or by the middle. This alone is almost sufficient to show that chance does not deter~ine the manner in which leaves are dragged mto the burrows. Of the above 227 leaves, 70 consisted of the fallen leaves of the cmnmon lim:-tree,, which is almost certainly not a natiVe .of England. These leaves are much acumm· ated towards the tip, and are very broad at CnAP, II. 'l'ITEIR INTELLIGENCE. 67 the base with a well-developed foot-stalk. They are thin and quite flexible when halfwithered. Of the 70, 79 per cent. had been drawn in by or near the tip; 4 per cent. by or near the base; and 17 per cent. transversely or by the middle. 11hese proportions agree very closely, as far as the tip js concerned, with those before given. But tl1e percentage drawn in by the Lase is smaller, which may be attributed to the breadth of the ba ·aJ part of the blade. We here, also, see that the presence of a foot-staHc, which it might have been expected would have tempted the worm8 as a convenient handle, has little or no influence in determining the manner in which lime leaves are dragged into the burrows. The considerable proportion, viz., 17 per cent., drawn in rnore or less transversely depends no doubt on the flexibility of these hal~-decayed leaves. The fact of so many hav1ng been drawn in by the middle, and of some few having been drawn in by the base, renders it improbable that the worms first tried to draw in most of the leaves by one or both of these methods, aud that they afterwards drew in 79 per cent. Ly their tips; 1•' 2 |
