Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1882-01-13
Earth Worms.

The London saturday Review" has thu
following summary of some of the remark
able statements made in the new work by
Mr.. Darwin, on the influence OF eartf
worms upon the soil
s'From careful measurements of thu
weight OF earth elected from single bur
row and from number of burrows within
a given space, he has come to results which
! strikiDgfy show the important part played
by these seemingly insie nifcant agents in
the economy Of nature. In field neal
Nice the castings within one square foot
Of surface were found to weigh twelve
ounces a year, equivalent to 1853 tons per
acre. Upon chalk down in Kent Is. 81
| lbs. were accumulated in the square yard
equal to is II tons per acre. Near Leith
Hill, Surrey, the yield was calculated at
1855 tons annually on one piece of land ano
1851 tons on another. II uniformly spread
out over the surface the castings elected
would amount, Mr. Darwin estimates from
a number of instances, to a.thlckness OF
about one and half inches in ten years.
The number of worms to be met with in
an acre of garden land has been estimated
by Hensen at So, 1877 but taking half this
| amount as the yield of average land, it
may be inferred that each worm elects
some twenty ounces year in about the
same number of castings. Considering
that many burrow extends to three, four,
or even five feet in depth, it is easy to con-
ceive the amount of change perpetually
going on in the amount of subsoil, fresh
and virgin mould being brought up by
these untiring miners to renew and ferti-
lie the upper earth. at the same time
they carry on the process of burying OBJ
jects resting on the surface-stones, bricks
and other debris sinking to all appearance
with the lapse of time; che fact being that
the worm casts are heaped up alongside
and over them till they become entirely
hidden from view.
Instances are given of great stones, the
apparent sinking of which has been meas
ured. One which had lain in grass field
for IS years had been buried to the extent
of one and one.half inches below the orig
inal surface; another larger stone about
two inches, the mould raising to several
! inches higher against the sides Of the stone
from the fact of the worms working under
it having to eject their castings clear of
the under surface, and thus piling them
to height above the average level. A
sloping field near Mr.. Darwin's house had
been SO thickly covered with flints great
and small as to be called "the stony field. :"
AS his sons ran down the field the stones
clattered together. In thirty years they
had been 50 thoroughly buried that horse
could gallop from end Of the field to anoth-
er and not strike with his Shoes a single
stone. A tagged path was similarly COW
cred up in about the same space of time
A layer of coal ashes strewn upon the sur
face was found in a distinctly marked line
within eighteen years, seven inches under
the soil. In New Zealand there was found
from three to six inches underground, a
layer of rude weapons and implements,
fakes and chips of basalt, dropped by the
aborigines upon the surface. Farmers are
wont to speak of lime, clnders, and heavy
stones working themselves downward, ,
aud Mr.. Darwin throws out hint for
surveyors IS to the possibility of their
bench stones set in thu ground to mark
the levels bsing turned by the underm in
ing worms into false standa rds.
'Still more curious are the results indi
Gated by remains of ancient buildings
The floors and walls of Roman villas at
Abinger, Chedwortb, Silchester, and Bra
ding, penetrated and buried by worm casts,
from an excellent index to the rate OF ac-
eumulation. Pavements have been lower
ed by the gradual withdrawal of the I'M
derlying SOIL At SilchesJer the center
tosssrse are found five and Jhree- quarter
Inches below the line where those a. the
sides of the apartments join the wall, be-
ing thereby kept fiom subsiding. The
ponderous trilithous OF Ston .henze have
! undergone for ages the process of slow in
serment by the accumulation of mould
around them. at the same time that they
are in danger of tottering and fall
Ing from being undermined by these
tiny assailants. On the other hand, we
are often indebted to them for the preser-
walton of coins, weapons and ornaments
of metal and stone. and relics of all kinds
Arch@ologists are reminded by MI OAR
win of what they owe to the despsed earth
worm. The agriculturist, the lover of the
picturesque, the economical philosopher.
the practical statesman, may join in CRATE
full acknowledgement of services which
have SO largely helped to clothe the earth
with richness and beauty. All lovers of
nature, we may add, will unite in thank
ing Mr.. Darwin for the new and interest
ing light he has thrown upon the subject
so long overlooked, yet so full of interest
and instruction, as the structure and the
labors of the earth worm''