Considerable intelligence is shown by worms in their manner of plugging
up their burrows. If man had to plug up a cylindrical hole with such
objects as leaves, petioles or twigs, he would push them in by their
pointed ends, but if these were thin relatively to the size of the
hole, he would probably insert some by their broader ends. Intelligence
would certainly be his guide in such a case. But how worms would drag
leaves into their burrows, whether by their tips, bases, or middle
parts, has been a matter of interest to many. Darwin, who experimented
upon the subject, found it especially desirable to experiment with
plants not native to his country, for he conceived that although the
habit of dragging leaves into their burrows is undoubtedly instinctive
with worms, yet instinct could not teach them how to act in the case of
leaves about which their progenitors knew nothing. Did they act solely
through instinct, or an unvarying inherited impulse, they would draw
all kinds of leaves into their burrows in the same manner. Having no
such definite instinct, chance might be expected to determine whether
the tip, base, or middle might be seized. If the worm in each case
first tries many different methods, and follows that alone which proves
possible or the most easy, then both instinct and chance are ruled out
of the solution of the question. But to act in this manner, and to try
different methods, makes what in man would be called intelligent action.
Three species of pine-leaves are mentioned by Darwin as being regularly
drawn into the mouths of worm-burrows on the gravel-walk in his garden.
These leaves consist of two needles, which are united to a common base,
and it is by this point that they are almost invariably drawn into
the burrows. As the sharply-pointed needles diverge somewhat, and
as several are drawn into the same burrow, each tuft forms a perfect
_chevaux-de-frise_. Many tufts were pulled up in the evening, but
by the ensuing morning fresh leaves had taken their places, and the
burrows again well protected. Impossible it would be to drag these
leaves to any depth into the burrows, except by their bases, as a
worm cannot seize hold of the two leaves at the same time, and if one
alone were seized by the apex, the other would be pressed against the
ground and resist the entry of the one that was seized. That the worms
should do their work well, it was very essential that they drag the
pine-leaves into their burrows by their bases, that is, where the two
needles are conjoined. But how they are guided in this work was at
first perplexing. The difficulty, however, was soon settled. With the
assistance of his son Francis, the elder Darwin set to work to observe
worms in confinement during several nights by the aid of a dim light,
while they dragged the leaves of the aforementioned kinds into their
burrows. They were seen to move the anterior extremities of their
bodies about the leaves, and on several occasions when they touched
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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