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Show .126 HABITS OF WORMS. CHAP. II. of their having been found at 4 feet. Within the forests, fresh castings may be found even during the hot season. The worms in the Botanic garden, during the cool and dry season, draw 1nany leaves and little sticks into the mouths of their burrows, like our English worms; but they rarely act in thi f:l manner during the rainy season. Mr. Scott saw worm-castings on tho lofty mountains of Sikkim in North India. In South .India Dr. l(ing found 1n one place, on the plateau of the Nilgiris, at an elevation of 7000 feet, " a good many castings," which are interesting for their great size. The worms which eject them are seen only during the wet season, and are reported to be from 12 to 15 inches in lengtb, and as thick as a man's little finger. Those castings were collected by Dr. King after a period of 110 days without any rain ; aJHl they must have been ejected either clur·ing the north-east or more probably during the previous south-west monsoon ; for th eir surfaees had suffered some disintegration and they were penetrated by many fine roots. \. drawing is here given (Fig. 4) of one which CHAP. II. 'l'llEIR WIDE DISTRIBUTION . 127 seems to have best retained its original size and appearar~ce. N otwithsta11ding some loss from disintegration, five of the largest of these cas~ings (after having been well sun-dried) wmghed each on an averae-e 88·5 o-rammos <..J 0 ' A casting from the Nilgiri Mountains in Routh India; of natnral size, engraved from a photograph. or above 3 oz. ; and the largest weighed 123·14 grammes, or 4:1 oz. -that is above a quarter of a pound ! The lai·gest convolutions were rather more than one inch in diameter; but it is probable that they had subsided a little |
