the formation of vegetable mould-第38节
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'Archives de Zoolog。 exper。' tom。 iii。 1874; p。 372。 C。 F。 Morren
('De Lumbrici terrestris Hist。 Nat。' 1829; p。 14) found that worms
endured immersion for fifteen to twenty days in summer; but that in
winter they died when thus treated。
{11} Morren; 'De Lumbrici terrestris Hist。 Nat。' &c。; 1829; p。 67。
{12} 'De Lumbrici terrestris Hist。 Nat。' &c。; p。 14。
{13} Histolog。 Untersuchungen uber die Regenwurmer。 'Zeitschrift
fur wissenschaft。 Zoologie;' B。 xix。; 1869; p。 611。
{14} For instance; Mr。 Bridgman and Mr。 Newman ('The Zoologist;'
vol。 vii。 1849; p。 2576); and some friends who observed worms for
me。
{15} 'Familie der Regenwurmer;' 1845; p。 18。
{16} 'The Zoologist;' vol。 vii。 1849; p。 2576。
{17} 'Familie der Regenwurmer;' p。 13。 Dr。 Sturtevant states in
the 'New York Weekly Tribune' (May 19; 1880) that he kept three
worms in a pot; which was allowed to become extremely dry; and
these worms were found 〃all entwined together; forming a round mass
and in good condition。〃
{18} 'De Lumbrici terrestris Hist。 Nat。' p。 19。
{19} 'Archives de Zoologie experimentale;' tom。 vii。 1878; p。 394。
When I wrote the above passage; I was not aware that Krukenberg
('Untersuchungen a。 d。 physiol。 Inst。 d。 Univ。 Heidelberg;' Bd。
ii。 p。 37; 1877) had previously investigated the digestive juice of
Lumbricus。 He states that it contains a peptic; and diastatic; as
well as a tryptic ferment。
{20} On the action of the pancreatic ferment; see 'A Text…Book of
Physiology;' by Michael Foster; 2nd edit。 pp。 198…203。 1878。
{21} Schmulewitsch; 'Action des Sucs digestifs sur la Cellulose。'
Bull。 de l'Acad。 Imp。 de St。 Petersbourg; tom。 xxv。 p。 549。 1879。
{22} Claparede doubts whether saliva is secreted by worms: see
'Zeitschrift fur wissenschaft。 Zoologie;' B。 xix。 1869; p。 601。
{23} Perrier; 'Archives de Zoolog。 exper。' July; 1874; pp。 416;
419。
{24} 'Zeitschrift fur wissenschaft。 Zoologie;' B。 xix; 1869; pp。
603…606。
{25} De Vries; 'Landwirth。 Jahrbucher;' 1881; p。 77。
{26} M。 Foster; 'A Text…Book of Physiology;' 2nd edit。 1878; p。
243。
{27} M。 Foster; ut sup。 p。 200。
{28} Claparede remarks ('Zeitschrift fur wisseuschaft。 Zoolog。'
B。 19; 1869; p。 602) that the pharynx appears from its structure to
be adapted for suction。
{29} An account of her observations is given in the 'Gardeners'
Chronicle;' March 28th; 1868; p。 324。
{30} London's 'Gard。 Mag。' xvii。 p。 216; as quoted in the
'Catalogue of the British Museum Worms;' 1865; p。 327。
{31} 'Familie der Regenwurmer;' p。 19。
{32} In these narrow triangles the apical angle is 9 degrees 34
seconds; and the basal angles 85 degrees 13 seconds。 In the
broader triangles the apical angle is 19 degrees 10 seconds and the
basal angles 80 degrees 25 seconds。
{33} See his interesting work; 'Souvenirs entomologiques;' 1879;
pp。 168…177。
{34} Mobius; 'Die Bewegungen der Thiere;' &c。; 1873; p。 111。
{35} 'Annals and Mag。 of N。 History;' series ii。 vol。 ix。 1852; p。
333。
{36} 'Archives de Zoolog。 exper。' tom。 iii。 1874; p。 405。
{37} I state this on the authority of Semper; 'Reisen im Archipel
der Philippinen;' Th。 ii。 1877; p。 30。
{38} Dr。 King gave me some worms collected near Nice; which; as he
believes; had constructed these castings。 They were sent to M。
Perrier; who with great kindness examined and named them for me:
they consisted of Perichaeta affinis; a native of Cochin China and
of the Philippines; P。 Luzonica; a native of Luzon in the
Philippines; and P。 Houlleti; which lives near Calcutta。 M。
Perrier informs me that species of Perichaeta have been naturalized
in the gardens near Montpellier and in Algiers。 Before I had any
reason to suspect that the tower…like castings from Nice had been
formed by worms not endemic in the country; I was greatly surprised
to see how closely they resembled castings sent to me from near
Calcutta; where it is known that species of Perichaeta abound。
{39} 'Zeitschrift fur wissenschaft。 Zoolog。' B。 xxviii。 1877; p。
364。
{40} 'Zeitschrift fur wissenschaft。 Zoolog。' B。 xxviii。 1877; p。
356。
{41} Perrier; 'Archives de Zoolog。 exper。' tom。 3; p。 378; 1874。
{42} This case is given in a postscript to my paper in the
'Transact。 Geolog。 Soc。' (Vol。 v。 p。 505); and contains a serious
error; as in the account received I mistook the figure 30 for 80。
The tenant; moreover; formerly said that he had marled the field
thirty years before; but was now positive that this was done in
1809; that is twenty…eight years before the first examination of
the field by my friend。 The error; as far as the figure 80 is
concerned; was corrected in an article by me; in the 'Gardeners'
Chronicle;' 1844; p。 218。
{43} These pits or pipes are still in process of formation。
During the last forty years I have seen or heard of five cases; in
which a circular space; several feet in diameter; suddenly fell in;
leaving on the field an open hole with perpendicular sides; some
feet in depth。 This occurred in one of my own fields; whilst it
was being rolled; and the hinder quarters of the shaft horse fell
in; two or three cart…loads of rubbish were required to fill up the
hole。 The subsidence occurred where there was a broad depression;
as if the surface had fallen in at several former periods。 I heard
of a hole which must have been suddenly formed at the bottom of a
small shallow pool; where sheep had been washed during many years;
and into which a man thus occupied fell to his great terror。 The
rain…water over this whole district sinks perpendicularly into the
ground; but the chalk is more porous in certain places than in
others。 Thus the drainage from the overlying clay is directed to
certain points; where a greater amount of calcareous matter is
dissolved than elsewhere。 Even narrow open channels are sometimes
formed in the solid chalk。 As the chalk is slowly dissolved over
the whole country; but more in some parts than in others; the
undissolved residuethat is the overlying mass of red clay with
flints;likewise sinks slowly down; and tends to fill up the pipes
or cavities。 But the upper part of the red clay holds together;
aided probably by the roots of plants; for a longer time than the
lower parts; and thus forms a roof; which sooner or later falls in;
as in the above mentioned five cases。 The downward movement of the
clay may be compared with that of a glacier; but is incomparably
slower; and this movement accounts for a singular fact; namely;
that the much elongated flints which are embedded in the chalk in a
nearly horizontal position; are commonly found standing nearly or
quite upright in the red clay。 This fact is so common that the
workmen assured me that this was their natural position。 I roughly
measured one which stood vertically; and it was of the same length
and of the same relative thickness as one of my arms。 These
elongated flints must get placed in their upright position; on the
same principle that a trunk of a tree left on a glacier assumes a
position parallel to the line of motion。 The flints in the clay
which form almost half its bulk; are very often broken; though not
rolled or abraded; and this may he accounted for by their mutual
pressure; whilst the whole mass is subsiding。 I may add that the
chalk here appears to have been originally covered in parts by a
thin bed of fine sand with some perfectly rounded flint pebbles;
probably of Tertiary age; for such sand often partly fills up the
deeper pits or cavities in the chalk。
{44} S。 W。 Johnson; 'How Crops Feed;' 1870; p。 139。
{45} 'Nature;' November 1877; p。 28。
{46} 'Proc。 Phil。 Soc。' of Manchester; 1877; p。 247。
{47} 'Trans。 of the New Zealand Institute;' vol。 xii。; 1880; p。
152。
{48} Mr。 Lindsay Carnagie; in a letter (June 1838) to Sir C。
Lyell; remarks that Scotch farmers are afraid of putting lime on
ploughed land until just before it is laid down for pasture; from a
belief that it has some tendency to sink。 He adds: 〃Some years
since; in autumn; I laid lime on an oat…stubble and ploughed it
down; thus bringing it into immediate contact with the dead
vegetable matter; and securing its thorough mixture through the
means of all the subsequent operations of fallow。 In consequence
of the above prejudice; I was considered to have committed a great
fault; but the result was eminently successful; and the practice
was partially followed。 By means of Mr。 Darwin's observations; I
think the prejudice will be removed。〃
{49} This conclusion; which; as we shall immediately see; is fully
justified; is of some little importance; as the so…called bench…
stones; which surveyors fix in the ground as a record of their
levels; may in time become false standards。 My son Horace intends
at some future period to ascertain how far this has occurred。
{50} Mr。 R。 Mallet remarks ('Quarterly Journal of Geolog。 Soc。'
vol。 xxxiii。; 1877; p。 745) that 〃the extent to which the ground
beneath the foundations of ponderous architectural structures; such
as cathedral towers; has