{6} Before entering on
details with respect to the castings, it will be advisable to give
some account of the habits of worms from my own observations and
from those of other naturalists.
[FIRST EDITION, October 10th, 1881.]
CHAPTER I--HABITS OF WORMS.
Nature of the sites inhabited--Can live long under water--
Nocturnal--Wander about at night--Often lie close to the mouths of
their burrows, and are thus destroyed in large numbers by birds--
Structure--Do not possess eyes, but can distinguish between light
and darkness--Retreat rapidly when brightly illuminated, not by a
reflex action--Power of attention--Sensitive to heat and cold--
Completely deaf--Sensitive to vibrations and to touch--Feeble power
of smell--Taste--Mental qualities--Nature of food--Omnivorous--
Digestion--Leaves before being swallowed, moistened with a fluid of
the nature of the pancreatic secretion--Extra-stomachal digestion--
Calciferous glands, structure of--Calcareous concretions formed in
the anterior pair of glands--The calcareous matter primarily an
excretion, but secondarily serves to neutralise the acids generated
during the digestive process.
Earth-worms are distributed throughout the world under the form of
a few genera, which externally are closely similar to one another.
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