The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1900-06-23
WORMS ON TIE MOVE.
WHAT AN HOURS STUDY OF THEIR
HABITS WILL DEVELOP.

HA6tto WILL O6v6GSVs
Fine Little Fellows to know.-Big Trees
Helped by Their Travels Underground
Stories Of Their Destructive Tenden'
cles Greatly Exaggerated.
The boy who goes fishing with a
pail Of worm for bait little knows what
a pleasant hour he might have anu
yet make his outing much more agree
able for the worms and for the nsn.
He should take a lOOk-a scientinc
peep-at the contents of that pail IN
stead of throwing them ignorantiy
away. After all his pains In digging
for the worms he and they are scarce
" acquaintance, and yet, II we
should ask him, he must admit that
be has dug up worms in the spring
time, year after year, and gone nsn-
ing, knowing as little about the worm
when his sport was over as he did
when he started out.
EARTHWORM TRAILS.
To see really what sort of fellow
the common earthworm Is, first put
him into bowl of water. He VIII
soon wriggle himself free of every
particle of dirt, and you may then
make him more comfortable on some
dry, smooth surface while you study
the peculiar movements of his remark
able body. He belongs to the subking-
dom Viermes, class Annelida, which
are: animals whose bodies are made
up of an indefinite number of seq
ments, bearing APPENDICES which are
not jointed." The name Annelida Is
from the Latin word annulus, a ring.
The worms body consists of a series
of segments, or rings, all alike In
form, except at the two ends; the
anterior end tapers to blunt point;
| the hinder end is broad and fiattened.
Watch the worm shorten himself af-
ter a long stretch. Projecting from
the sides and the lower portion Of
each ring you will see the tiny bristles
called setae, with which he manages
1 ~ Wdlh. w LlSu uc iChSth LIS ooNJ
the rough setae on the hinder rings
prevent him from stretching back
ward by sticking into the ground" The
worm can, therefore, stretch only for
| ward. In the same manner when he
| shortens his body the setae in the
front rings stick into the ground, and
the hinder part Of the body is drawn
up; I've repeats this process every time
that he moves along.
LOCOMOTION.
| That way of walking may sound
| very complicated and wonderful, but
it is no more wonderful than that you
should be able to balance your body
on your legs and walk without giving
a thought to how you do it, or to how
wonderful it is that it can be done
without thought. Watch a baby's eff
forts to keep his balance in learning
to toddle only few steps, and you
understand that walking seems easy
to you, because you have had so much
practice.
| The usefulness Of worms may be
seen at once when you compare some
of the things that they do with those
that they are unjustly accused Of do
ing. Worms do not destroy the roots
of trees and plants. They eat half
decayed leaves. which they are able to
grind with the muscles of the mouth;
but they have no teeth with which
to gnaw. They are useful to man In
boring through the ground and loosen
ing the soil to make 1t ready for the
Lbres of plants to enter. Surface soil
is more or less loose, but the sub-soil
is hard and compact until the earth
worms have worked it. Our tallest
trees, even, would soon die II nc
opening were made by the worms fol
their root fibres to enter. To keep
worm-life in check, nature has proyid.
ed the birds, and any one who has
watched the robin dine will see that
there is no danger of the earthworm
supply exceeding the demand.
SANDWICHES.
There are few worms in fresh wa.
ter. Professor Morse tells us that the
sea seems to be their true home, and
he advises young students to search
for the common seaworms on the
beach between the high and the low
water mark after an ocean storm, OF
to dig for them in the sand. To keep
them alive for any length Of time In
a saltwater aquarium Is almost i'm
possible, SO to study them at theil
best you should place them in shallow
bowls or plates, and later return then
to the place where you found them
Their graceful motions and curious
ways may be seen perfectly while
they are swimming about in the bowl
The head is not so simple as tho
earthwOrms; it has several feelers
Some sea-worms have powerful jaws
which work up and down." and /,
double row of oval scales along tn,
back"
The most interesting sea-worms o.
which Professor Morse tells "bullt
tubes of mud or sand in which the!
live, and many of them have bunche,
Of thread-like feelers on their heads
Put these clever little fellows into ,
plate of sea-water, with particles O
dirt or sand. and they will at ono,
begin to build a new tube. The thread
on their heads will stretch out Xix,
delicate rubber cords, and, becomin,
entangled In the particles Of dirt, viii
draw them toward the head" Thel
the other bristles on the creature
body are used to mold the dirt int
the shape of tube.
Isn't it more amusing to study tn
worms in that way than to stick then