Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-04-07

for food and partly TO line 'ncIr MUM ',r
abodeS for protection again II" c".d-
ness of the earth. 1t lnanit'~t' intrl!i-
gcnce in making is hole. In i lines II
with layer of fine, smooth earth, dis
PLAYS skillful t3iiorsh;p in exactly tx
ting the hole 10 il body, and consider
able military strategy in protecting 1t
Against small interi"per- hy covering
the openings with heaps # small -tnnc-.
The mission of the worm. however, IS
what clcvatc~ it - Iii I'll IN the animal
creation, and it WI undoubtedly strike
many oi our readers, who have not
given the subject any ;h"ught. with As
constituent. The worm has 4 very
complex digestive apparatus, with one
organ ike the gizzaId OF fowl, or q
quartz-crusher upon an in.initesimal
scale. |, needs such a digeS,cr, for it is
continually swallowing earth and tiny
stones and returning thcm to the sur
face of the earth in Il finely trituratcd
and fortified condition. "By this pro-
cess the entire earthly surface of coun-
try is constantly in Il state of change"
saws Mr.. Darwin, though in this conn
try the change would he confined 20
clayev soils, as the rich, black prairie
soils contain but very few worms and
sandy and @ravelly soils none III all. He
estimates that in every acre there are
from 50, 900 to 10000 worms. but, Is we
have said, there is a considerable por
ton of our own country which can hard
" be included in such an estimate. He
al -, fIaf tho hf
in some cases, if spread over the ground,
would measure One-lifth Of an inch Ill
depth per year, equal to one inch of
earth brought up from below, passed
throEgh the bodies of worms and de-
posted on the surface in five years. In
one instance twelve ounces of castings
were thrown up in q year on q square
foot, or six and one-third pounds on the
square yard, equal TO II 12 tons of the
best of fertilizers, vegetable mold, over
an acre q year. Further, says Mr..
Darwin:
"The millions of leaves and other
vegetable matter dragged by the perse-
vering creatures underneath the soil,
whether passed through their bodies or
not, form 4 splendid natural manure.
Not only so, bat 'the bones of dead ami
mails, the harder parts of insects. the
shells of land mollusks are before long
all buried beneath the accumulated
castings of worms, and are thus brought
in more or less decaycd state within
reach of the roots of plants The worm
burrows generally do not go beyond 4
few inches beneath the surface, though
not infrequently they have been found
at the depth of several feet, and thus, it
is supposed, materially aid the drainage
and allow the air to penetrate deeply
into the ground"
Whatever feelings of spite the unset
entific world may have against Mr..
Darwin for humbling man by establish
ing or seeking to establish conSenital
relations between him and the monkey,
there is no one who will not admire his
patient fifty years. study of one of the
humblest animals in nature, and rise
from the perusal of such treatise with
new feelings of respect, if not of rcver-
ence, for this blind and deaf toilcr in
the earth who is so intent upon its
work that it will suffer itself to be pulled
in pieces rather than voluntarily quit its
fertilizing factory. and is SO bent upon
that work that even if one half of it be
captured the other half, left behind, will
go ahead with equal energy, though
with diminished resources. The results
of these observations show that in tho
wonderful economy of nature the most
seemingly useless factors have great
functions to perform, and that what
frequently seems contemplate to the
unframed sight accomplishes stupeR-
dous results.-Uicago Tribune.