15 inch in diameter.
Dr. King saw in Ceylon a worm about 2 feet in length and 0.5 inch
in diameter; and he was told that it was a very common species
during the wet season. These worms must throw up castings at least
as large as those on the Nilgiri Mountains; but Dr. King saw none
during his short visit to Ceylon.
Sufficient facts have now been given, showing that worms do much
work in bringing up fine earth to the surface in most or all parts
of the world, and under the most different climates.
CHAPTER III--THE AMOUNT OF FINE EARTH BROUGHT UP BY WORMS TO THE
SURFACE.
Rate at which various objects strewed on the surface of grass-
fields are covered up by the castings of worms--The burial of a
paved path--The slow subsidence of great stones left on the
surface--The number of worms which live within a given space--The
weight of earth ejected from a burrow, and from all the burrows
within a given space--The thickness of the layer of mould which the
castings on a given space would form within a given time if
uniformly spread out--The slow rate at which mould can increase to
a great thickness--Conclusion.
We now come to the more immediate subject of this volume, namely,
the amount of earth which is brought up by worms from beneath the
surface, and is afterwards spread out more or less completely by
the rain and wind.
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