The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms: With Observations on Their Habits — John Shaqi
The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms: With Observations on Their HabitsDarwin, Charles
Science
The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms: With Observations on Their Habits
Darwin, Charles
Earthworms; Humification; Soils
In order to see how the triangles would be seized by worms, some in a
damp state were given to worms kept in confinement. They were seized in
three different manners in the case of both the narrow and broad
triangles: viz., by the margin; by one of the three angles, which was
often completely engulfed in their mouths; and lastly, by suction applied
to any part of the flat surface. If lines parallel to the base and an
inch apart, are drawn across a triangle with the sides three inches in
length, it will be divided into three parts of equal length. Now if
worms seized indifferently by chance any part, they would assuredly seize
on the basal part or division far oftener than on either of the two other
divisions. For the area of the basal to the apical part is as 5 to 1, so
that the chance of the former being drawn into a burrow by suction, will
be as 5 to 1, compared with the apical part. The base offers two angles
and the apex only one, so that the former would have twice as good a
chance (independently of the size of the angles) of being engulfed in a
worm’s mouth, as would the apex. It should, however, be stated that the
apical angle is not often seized by worms; the margin at a little
distance on either side being preferred. I judge of this from having
found in 40 out of 46 cases in which triangles had been drawn into
burrows by their apical ends, that the tip had been doubled back within
the burrow for a length of between 1/20 of an inch and 1 inch. Lastly,
the proportion between the margins of the basal and apical parts is as 3
to 2 for the broad, and 2½ to 2 for the narrow triangles. From these
several considerations it might certainly have been expected, supposing
that worms seized hold of the triangles by chance, that a considerably
larger proportion would have been dragged into the burrows by the basal
than by the apical part; but we shall immediately see how different was
the result.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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