WHO WILL FIND OUT?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18015, 27 November 1926, Page 19

WHO WILL FIND OUT?

A learned German professor declares that. earth Worms make sounds. Is that true? Many boys have dug lor angleirorms. Not one of them, we may be sure, imagined that the worm could make, a sound. Indeed, it has been thought that the useful little creatures bad no feeling, and that they could be shut in airtight cans or boxes without any suspicion of cruelty. Now, it is stated that earthworms at work underground make sounds like those coming from a tiny flute, or the strokes of a piece of paper. The sounds come, it is said, from the worm’s open

out by placing a number of earthworms in an earth-filled enclosure, when, to his great surprise, he- heard sounds. Another scientist tells us that the reason earthworms come to the surface in wet weather is that the moisture fills every tiny hole or crack in the soil, so that there is no ah' to breathe. When they do get. to the surface, the. light hurts them so badly that they get weak, and often die. It should be possible for a boy or girl who has an interest in such things to find out whether or not earthworms make sounds. As some of you know, earthworms are of great value to the farmer or gardener. They loosen and enrich the soil as they make their way through it.