behind are two impressed lines or furrows, either separate or connected by a cross bar so as to resemble the letter H. Clitellus smooth, glistening, yellowish-brown, of six equal segments; and on each side there is a thickened ridge, either limited to the clitellar rings or continued up on the rings nearly to the genital pores. Anal segment small, reddish, with tumid lips to the aperture. The genital pores are on the fifteenth ring, excluding the head in the enumeration. There are two similar pores on the twenty-sixth or twentyseventh segment. The ventral bristles are black on the anterior segment; the other bristles are colourless or straw-yellow, stout, curved at the distal end, and rather bluntly pointed.

The surface is smooth and glistening, and reflects a beautiful blue iridescence, especially from the back. This iridescence is in some specimens very marked, in others it is less notable,-differences arising both from the condition of the worm itself, and from the nature of the soil in which it has been burrowing. The furrows behind the head are drawn from the one margin of the segment to the other, and the furrows are often connected by a cross line. The rings are divided into two halves by a faint line; and the bristles form two parallel series on each side. In one individual I counted 28 rings anterior to the clitellus, in another 30, and in another very large one 32. Ray says that there are 30 or 32. Otho Fabricius says that in his specimen there were 31, 6 in the clitellus, and 106 behind it-in all 143.

Müller, in three individuals, found the numbers to be:

The description of this species by Ray is excellent.

This is our earthworm or dew-worm, the latter name bestowed from the animal coming forth from its concealment in the "dew-o'the-morn," and before the sun has dried up the moisture of the ground. It lives in the soil of gardens, meadows, and pastures ; frequents roads and pathways; and lurks, in crowds, under the pavement of the busy streets, gaining a difficult access to the surface through the chinks between the flags*. It cannot live either in pure sand or clay, nor in an over-wet soil, nor in peat. In pastures -new or old-it is often found under stones, lying in smooth runs which it has made for easy escape; for, on being disturbed, it retreats with sudden and stealthy quickness, and seems to be always on the alert. It will permit the body to be torn in pieces rather

*"Their favourite residence is a recent vegetable mould-heap, the under side of a flat stone in damp situations, and the earth immediately below half-dried cow-dung,-whence one of its provincial names, the Cow-dung worm."-Dr. G. Douglas." Quæ ratio est, quod non omnem terram, hoc est, tenuem, sterilem, arenosam, et lapidosam, sed tantum glareosam, pinguem, et argillosam, ac humidam amat. Unde Anglia plurimos alit Lumbricos, quod sit regio humidissima."—Aldrovandus, De Insect. lib. vi. p. 693.

than have it dragged from the furrow; and the portion left behind, like the halves cut by the spade, wriggles with life and energy. Α long continuance of dry weather is often fatal to a great number; the worm creeps from its hole, and dies miserably on the surface. In wet weather too, we often see these worms lying dead in pools of water-" pluviâ ejiciuntur è terrâ"-sodden and macerated, for the death is lingering, and the struggle may endure for two or three days*. "The earthworm is essentially a water-breathing animal ; it dies in pure water from starvation, in dry air from asphyxia; the character of the circulatory fluids obviously suggests the above inferences."-Dr. Williams, Rep. p. 180. Anglers, in general, will not use this species for bait for trout+; but it is good to entrap eels; and salmon and bull-trout, when these are "out of season," or in a bad condition. Many birds prey upon it; and it is hunted incessantly by its prime enemy the mole. "Lumbricum terrestrium adeo vorax est indagator, ut si spatulam ferream in humo infiges, et ea terram quatias, lumbrici hunc esse motum talpæ credentes, ad auras subitò ascendunt, et superficiei prorepunt. Qua arte, lumbrici facilè colligerentur pro usu piscatoris."-Walker, Mam. Scot. in Essays, p. 488.

White of Selborne has told, in a way better than I can do, some habits of this worm. Earthworms," he says, "make their casts most in mild weather about March and April; they do not lie torpid in winter, but come forth when there is no frost; they travel about in rainy nights, as appears from their sinuous tracks on the soft muddy soil, perhaps in search of food.-When earthworms lie out a-nights on the turf, though they extend their bodies a great way, they do not quite leave their holes, but keep the ends of their tails fixed therein, so that on the least alarm they can retire with precipitation under the earth. Whatever food falls within their reach when thus extended, they seem to be content with, such as blades of grass, straws, fallen leaves, the ends of which they often draw into their holes §; even in copulation their hinder parts never quit their holes : so that no two, except they lie within reach of each other's bodies, can have any commerce of that kind; but as every individual is an

* "Earthworms immersed nineteen hours in oil, which is a fluid most destructive to all their race, revived when Spallanzani put them in humid earth."-Tracts by Dalyell, i. p. lii.

"These worms are much more brittle than the Blackheads, and are also greasy and unpleasant to touch, even after the most careful purification. They are never used as a bait for trout when others can be obtained, but are the kind exclusively used for salmon-fishing in the latter part of spring and commencement of summer. A large bunch is fastened upon several hooks and dropped down a rapid stream: if the fish is there, he is sure to take."-Dr. Geo. Douglas.

"Earthworms for the most part retreat deeper into the ground in winter to avoid the cold, but though not torpid are very lethargic and inert, and when touched do not display their usual fear; these, and slugs, seem, when disturbed, as if half awake out of a profound sleep.”—Bellamy's Nat. Hist. South Devon, p. 401.

§ White is wrong in supposing these substances are for food. The earthworm feeds on earth,-the "succum terræ pinguem," to use the expression of Aldrovandus," in all probability," according to Derham, "earth made of rotted roots

hermaphrodite, there is no difficulty in meeting with a mate, as would be the case were they of different sexes.

"Earthworms, though in appearance a small and despicable link in the chain of Nature, yet, if lost, would make a lamentable chasm. For to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds, which are almost entirely supported by them*, worms seem to be great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains, and the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and twigs into it; and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which being their excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass. Worms probably provide new soil for hills and slopes where the rain washes the earth away; and they affect slopes, probably to avoid being flooded. Gardeners and farmers express their detestation of worms; the former because they render their walks unsightly, and make them much work; and the latter because, as they think, worms eat their green corn. But these men would find that the earth without worms would soon become cold, hard-bound, and void of fermentation, and consequently sterilet."

This species deposits its eggs in capsules at a considerable depth in the soil. They are laid in spring, and the young are hatched in summer, principally in the months of June and July. When of full size the capsule is as large as a pea, elliptical, with a tubulous aperture at one end, and a small point at the opposite pole. The shell is horny, elastic, smooth, and semitransparent: it is filled with a purulent-like matter, in which, in some capsules, no worm was visible; but in others the young worm was easily seen coiled up in the interior. The foetal young escapes through the tubulous aperture, and is then rather more than an inch long, and in every respect like its parent, with the exception of there being no clitellus §. I have seen a young worm escape from the capsule, crawl about for a short

and plants, and such-like nutritive things, not pure earth."-Phys. Theology, p. 399, Lond. 1732.-They appear to eat also living rootlets, for we know that they injure plants grown in pots.

*See Aldrov. de Insect. lib. vi. pp. 646 & 697.

"Soil is not loosened by boring through it, but rather rendered firmer in the parts not bored through. So far from being rendered permeable by water in consequence of the bores of worms, it is rendered less so, the worm-casts deposited on the orifices of the bores always being water-tight; so much so indeed, that, when lawns where worms abound are to be watered with lime-water in order to destroy them, the first step is to brush away the casts with a long flexible rod, or remove them with a rake, to let the water enter the bores."-Loud. Gard. Mag. xvii. p. 216.-The writer considers the opinion that worms add to the soil as "a delusion."

The edition I quote from is the 8vo one, in 2 vols. Lond. 1825. Sir William Jardine has added an interesting note. See his illustrated edition, p. 152, Lond. 1853, 12mo.

§ Cuvier thus states Montègre's opinion:-" Selon M. Montègre, les œufs descendent entre l'intestin et l'enveloppe extérieure, jusqu'autour du rectum, où ils éclosent. Les petits sortent vivants par l'anus."-Règ. Anim. iii. p. 210. There is something not very intelligible in this; for how do the young obtain entrance into the rectum ?

space, and then re-enter the empty matrix, wherein it disposed itself quietly in a coil*.

Earthworms when they emerge from the soil, and crawl about, have been long known to presage change of weather : "Item vermes terreni erumpentes."-Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 18. sect. 88.

By the barber-surgeons and physicians of ancient times down to comparatively recent days, earthworms were often prescribed medicinally. Q. Seramis Samonicus, a physician of the age of Severus, deems it not beneath him to tell the young how to improve the hair : "Lumbrici quoque terrestres miscentur olivo

Et juvenem præstant redivivo flore capillum."

And earthworms, boiled in goose-grease, are good for deafness; and the powder of them roasted helps decayed teeth. But their virtues are best given in the words of Dr. Bullein :

:

"Earth wormes are hot of nature and of them are a pressious ointment made to close woundes, and if thei be sodden in goose greece and strained it is a good oyntment for to drop into a dull hearing eare, poring it in the contrarie side. Earth wormes stamped are good for payned teeth. The oyle of wormes be greatly commended for the comforting of the sinewes, jointes, vaines, and goute, thei must be washed in white wine, and the oiles of Verbascum or Cowslops, of Roses, of Lilles, of Dil, of Chamomill, all sodden together, whan it is colde put in your earth wormes, stoppe your glasse, let it stande xl daies in the sunne, then straine it, it will make an excellent oile against ache, sciatica, goute, &c. Reade more of them Plini lib. xxx. cap. ix. And thus I do ende of earth wormes, whiche are the bowels of the grounde or earth, whiche earth is colde and drie of nature, yet the mother of eche liuing wight, fostereth and geueth fode to euery creature, both sensible and insensible and remaineth still firme and stable, and eche creature hath his originall spring, and first life upon the earth, whan thei haue runne their race, some in pleasure and other some in wretchednes, the earth doeth deuoure them againe at length and swallow them, as though thei had neuer bene: and thus is generacion turned into corruption as Aristotle affirmeth+."

"After these follows properly the Worms, which some have called the intestines of the earth. These proceed immediately from the egg, and do not afterwards undergo any change, coming forth at their full perfection. The females, from their first hatching, have their little eggs, which are very distinct and perceptible. I observe

*The "eggs" described and delineated in Jones's Anim. Kingd. p. 209. fig. 85, belong evidently to a species different from our L. terrestris. The figures of Lyonet resemble ours.-Lesser Insect Theology, pl. 2. f. 1, 2; and so do those given by Dugès, which he says are the eggs of the Lumbricus trapezoides.—Ann. des Sc. nat. xv. p. 337. pl. 9. f. 6. See Williams, Rep. p. 261.

The Booke of Simples, fol. xc.-See also Jonston, Hist. nat. de Insect. lib. iii. 198; and Paulus Ægineta by Adams, iii. 85. Aldrovandus de Insect. lib. vi. 695. Lesser Insect Theol. ii. 182.-The original storehouse is Plinii Hist. Nat. lib. xxx.

"A day or two ye shul have digestives

Of wormes or ye take your laxatives."-Chaucer.

that their genus may be divided into many species."—Swammerdam, Book of Nature, i. p. 27.

Among all the eggs of insects, of which I have various species in my collection, I know none worthy of greater attention than those of Earthworms; for these insects have a red blood in their vessels, which, whilst the worm still lies in its egg, may be observed to move, and is wonderfully carried about in the heart itself. This is the reason why I take the present occasion to mention this singular phenomenon. Though the egg of the Earthworm is not larger than that of the Rhinoceros-Beetle, yet the former creeps out of it in form of a serpent, and is many times as long as it appeared in the egg. I saw two species of these eggs, of different sizes, and of an oblongroundish figure, uniting on each side in a prominent point; and therefore one would be inclined to say that their microcosm or little world had two poles, and that one may hope to discover a great many wonders therein. They are of a pale yellow colour, and have a tinge of green. In the spring these eggs are found dispersed here and there in the earth. In order to hatch them properly, I put them into a dish, and covered them with white paper, which I always kept wet. If any person does this carefully in his chamber every day, he may very easily discover these wonders."-Ibid. p. 133.

Lumbricus minor (page 59).

In colour and shape this resembles a small dew-worm, but the posterior portion is only slightly compressed, often almost cylindrical, and it is not dilated near the end, nor is the anal segment deeper coloured. The head is a small obtusely rounded lobule overlooking the mouth, which has thick lips; and there are no furrows or impressed lines on the dorsum of the following ring. Clitellus with seven rings, each marked by its pores; and there is another or, as it were, a half-ring without a pore: but generally the rings in the clitellus are so coalesced or fused together that there is no perceptible line to mark the place of union, and the number is entirely conjectural. The generative pore is on the fifteenth ring. The setæ offer no peculiarity.

This species does not exceed 2 or 3 inches. The rings are not iridescent generally, but in some individuals I have seen the blue changeable lights appear, always however faint when compared with the dew-worm. It is an active wriggling species, and is considered a good bait for the trout, whence I have called it the Trout-worm. It may be found in gardens with its congener, but it prefers the moist gravelly ground at the sides of burns and rivers, where it is found under stones in profusion. My finest specimens have been got from the masses of confervæ, &c. which grow on the front of rocks over which water trickles. It is also often found in rotten wood, and at the roots of decayed vegetables; and it loves to lurk within the sheaths of the leaves of celery, lettuce, and leeks.

Body greenish, cylindrical or tapered towards the tail; the segments simple; clitellus about the middle of the body, of seven to