The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1892-01-23
THELOWLY EARTHWORM
THINGS ABOUT THEM ARE woR.
THY OF NOTICE.
The u,sfains.s Ut the D~splssd Worn,
Dsfrnisd-oas Species Has !. fs-
eaii.r ws.poa Co.'S
OF In IasestA

The saa,hworm is an ANNA. which
has no, received that attsEtioa from
biologists which IL deserves in spite
of the fact that IL, habits aud structure
formed the last OF tina, magnificent
ser.ss OF volume, with which Darwin
anriehsi scientific literature. And Il
has not only bosa neglected. by naiu-
ralisis bat has Incurred tho bitter On
nifty Of gardener, and !srmerA
i, Is true that tho gardener has some
reason for hi, dislike when ho soss his
carefully rolled walks and smooth
Lawns rendered unsighliy by tho heaps
oissr,h with which tho worm diligently
covers them. bu, tho farmer has Ro
business Ia complain, for no, only do
asrih~orms form largo par, o. tho
food OF many birds. which would por,
hAps In their absence dlrSc, their at
tan,lOn moro closely To his crops and
iruI, ,roas but they aru Of positive
advantage in loosaalng tho soil and
80 making passage, for tho rain To
uiekla down TO the low.s, roots
Mars than "a hundred VsaF. ago Gil
Dor. White devoted ono OF hi, Letters
to the subject OF oarlhsOrms and do.
Tended ,h.m from tho accusation Of
usSio.sness and iniurlOnsne,, la the
economy OF naturu romarain. fur
thor. and 40 TO certain esi.Ht nnilcl-
pailns Darwin thai they ar- often no.
.ponsible for n. formation Of new
soils
There j. one species Of car,hsorm
H. sruA, britain known To fishermen
M tho branding which hh, "a pecu-
liar means Of defense that docs not Ap.
pear To 10 at NIL common H. ihu group
Tho branding !. very dark brown.
with y-ilowish bands. mud when lrrl.
,ai-i Il can oEglu u yrllosl-h fluid
hi, worm hr.ins b. b. acceptable
enough 10 certain Ashes. bat III. truth
Of tho I1ryrrb One mans meat 10
another man's poi,1n" /, illustrated
by the fact that II 1, not pAlE,lblo TO
lizards have b-en iHiIrH"I ,hh.
they either reject j, a,ih disgust or
II ihoy do ,gsin Il Hrr rewarded for
tho.r inilsrru;lou by severe Illness
Nov, this 10 very curious fac,
rays tho Churuhnan. bat 4; /, parall.
.ici elsewhere Ia tho animal kingdom
Many brightly colorui animals. par
ticular!y among insects hhvo boon
found Ia DO d.,agrcrab!u In thoir ,As,,
or positively dangerous a. other ami
mails which habliualiy 1.-Two upon th-lr
Ike And i. u, noteworthy tina, these
unpala,ablo crua,urus hbyo often tho
most markedly contrasici COLOR
that l. black mud yellow; for example,
tho wasp mi hornet. the coral snake
ard tho hololorn lizard Tho ella
monster
Tho theory hns boon advanced tina,
III, conspicuous colors h,y, boon do
yolop1i In order to advertise ,hcir
dangerous nature or tho unpaln,abl'
qunlI,lc, Of their ncsh; 30 tina, they
Nigh, escape such injuries NJ NIGH;
10 inflicted by mn animal DESTROYS of
ro565;r- "UsssnYs-- talSfAs-oS'
sccm- TO say TO tho would-bo nsgros.
soe; Don't touch mo; I'm poisonous -
Il confer. n bonci; nj once upon tho
opprcssor and tho oppressed rcndor.
'ny ono FREQ from attacks and warning
the other TIM, such attack, will prob
ably DO followed by serious cousc.
quonc,S /, looks worry much ~ II tho
branding was another example OF
tsts same phenomenon.
Besides tho nctiyo enemies which
nrc continually seeking to destroy
car;hworms though apparently with
comparatively li,ilo effect. these nni-
mails have hnbI, OF seeking dcs,ruc-
ton of thclr own account which looks
Ike n very determined EFFORT NJ sui
eide ON any wet morning tho shat.
low paddles In tho roadway or else
where are often occupied by the dcnd
bodies OF worms, or by individuals u,
their last gasp. Have those worms
voluntarily sough, wn,cry grave?
Or do they represent rs Darwin
thought. merely the sickly and dying
individuals which hnvc boon washed
out OF their burrows by the rain? Oar
wins explanation is probably partly
true; but It is also credible tina, tho
heating OF the paddles by tho sun $
rays hns something 10 do with tho
great mortality OF the anncolan. Cold
fresh water seems TO DO practically
harmless though salt water Is rapidly
fatal TO onr,hworms. NJ. Pcrricr. u
French naturalist who has paid grca.
attention 10 the group, kept various
species submerged in water for months
uninjurcd; and in this country there is
one species. and another In tho FHlk-
land islands which commonly passes
its entire life. or n great portion OF IT,
a