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Show 96 JlAlliTS OF WORMS. CHAP. H. first in one way and then in another, un~il they at last succeed, they profit,. at least Ill each particular instance, by expenencc. . But evidence has been advanced showing that worms do not habitually try t~ . draw objects into their burrows in many dliferent ways. rrl1 us l1ca lf-decayed lime-leaves • from their flexibility could have been drawn lD by their rniddle or basal parts, _and we:e thus d rawn 1.1 ,1 t o tl1e burrows 1n consHlerable num b ers; Yet a larOo' e ma~i ority w. ere drawn in by or near the apex. The petioles of tl:e Clematis could certainly have been drawn ln with equal ease by the base and. ape~; yet three times and in certain cases five times a~ many were drawn in by the apex as by the base. It might have been thought that the foot-stalks of leaves would have tempted the worms as a convenient handle ; yet they are not largely used, except when the base of the blade is narrower than the apex. A large number of the petioles of the ash are drawn in by the base ; but this part s~rves the worms as food. In the case of pine-leaves worms plainly show that they at least ~o not sei:le the leaf by chance ; but then CnAP. II. TTIEIR INTELLIGENCE. 97 choice does not appear to be determined by the divergence of the two needles, and the consequent advantage or necessity of drawing them into their burrows by the base. With respect to the triangles of paper, those which had been drawn in by the apex rarely had their bases creased or dirty; and this shows that the worms had not often first tried to drag them in by this end. If wonns are able to judge, either before drawing or after having drawn an object close to the mouths of their burrows how best to drag it in, they must acquire ' some notion of its general shape. This they probably acquire by touching it in many places with the anterior extremity of their bodies, which serves as a tactile organ. It may be well to ren1ember how perfect the sense of touch becomes in a man when born blind and deaf, as arc worms. If worms have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and of their burrows, as seems to be the case, they deserve to be called intelEgent ; for they then act in nearly the same manner as would a man under similar circumstances. II |