Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-02-10
Worms and Their WAYS.

'At Tue age VI scNcuts -t"O, NA"AANS
Darwin, the ilustrious naturalist,
makes another addition to the sum OF
human knowledge. Tie reveals to us
the important part played by worms
in fcrtiIizing the earth.
He calls them Natures plowhmen,
who are ceaslessly burrowing, mellow
ing, cnriching the ground. They fill
themselves full of the crude earth
below the surface. This they slowly
digest, forming vegetable mould,
which they deposit on the surface. TINS
constantly improving the quality OF
the soil, and gradually burying out of
sight rocks and all other insoluble sub
| stances.
For half century MIR. Darwin has
been observing the habits of worms,
and has gradually accumulated sur
prising number of facts concerning
them, and their agency in rendering
this earth of ours habitable.
Not many animals, he assures us,
have played SO important part IN the
history of the world as these lowly be-
ings which we tread so thoughtlessly
under our feet. Neither the hinge ele-
plant nor the kingly lion are so useful
to man.
Some of our angling readers May be
relieved to know that worms, when they
arc disturbed in their privacy by the
ruthless boy, or cut in halves by the
fa, mer' s hoe, do not suffer as much as
their contortions would lead us to
suppose. They are not over sensitive.
They have no eyes and no ears. Sense
of smell they probably have; and it is
certain that they can taste, for they
show decided preference for some
kinds of food. They are fond OF leaves
and OF some roots; but their favorite
morsel is the onion. In the arrange
ment and protection of their holes, they
display limited, yet not inconsider-
able, intelligence.
Tie main object, however, Of Mr..
Darwin's new work is to show the won
derful process by which these creatures
Increasingly digest crude earth, and
even little pebbles, into fertile mould.
In every acre of humid land there are
from thirty.fve thousand to fifty thou
sand worms, which employ themselves
continually in blowing and enrich
ing the soil.
Our author shows that the amount
of worm "casts" deposited upon an
acre in year may amount in favorable
circumstances to as mnch Us fourteen
tons. Roman camps. and even cities,
have probably. in long processes of
time. been buried by them. All this is
exceedingly wonderful and interesting.
The House of Muddlc.
Are you familiar with the house that
ia always in muddle? Where the
smell of washing is constant? Where
the sitting-room is in heap of litter
with" things" menling. getting up. or
taking to pieces? Where dirty chill
dren arc running about. falling and
squalling alternately. at all hours of tie
day? Where there is petting and
dandling one moment. and scolding
and beating the next? Where nothing
is clean, nothing ready, nothing done ?
And in the midst of all. there is the
untidy, WORKOUT, distressed housewife
herself, bitter against servants, wroth
with children, astonished at husband g
complaints, not pleased ut untimely
visitors (who, by the way. are always
untimely at such houses). and in a
constant pucker from morn till night.
because things don't 60 right. And
the oldest thing of all in such houses
is, that the more work. the more dirt;
the bigger the washings, the greater
the stock of dirty clothes; the more
strainings ut comfort, the less comfort
there is. In such house, inanimate
things are endowed with strange pow
ers of locomotion; and an agency, or
power, or person, called Nobody"
whose very existence is denied in better
regulated houses, seems to become in
vested with almost supernatural pow
ers of evil. A chair leg has "got
broken" or q dish has " fallen down :"
and been smashed, or the table has
"got scratched" or dress has "got
torn" 1t is always Nobody" that
did it; or, if not, then the "things :"
have fallen, or broken, or torn, or
scratched themselves - altogether of
their own accord, and ont of sheer
spite and mischief. No living being is
to blame-it does itself.
Care of the Ear.
People who are inclined to deafness
should live apart from the loud noises
of railroads, fact cries, iron mills. etc.
They should avoid with great care ex-