THE FORMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULD
THROUGH THE ACTION OF WORMS
WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR HABITS.

by Charles Darwin




INTRODUCTION.



The share which worms have taken in the formation of the layer of
vegetable mould, which covers the whole surface of the land in
every moderately humid country, is the subject of the present
volume. This mould is generally of a blackish colour and a few
inches in thickness. In different districts it differs but little
in appearance, although it may rest on various subsoils. The
uniform fineness of the particles of which it is composed is one of
its chief characteristic features; and this may be well observed in
any gravelly country, where a recently-ploughed field immediately
adjoins one which has long remained undisturbed for pasture, and
where the vegetable mould is exposed on the sides of a ditch or
hole. The subject may appear an insignificant one, but we shall
see that it possesses some interest; and the maxim "de minimis non
curat lex," does not apply to science. Even Elie de Beaumont, who
generally undervalues small agencies and their accumulated effects,
remarks: {1} "La couche tres-mince de la terre vegetale est un
monument d'une haute antiquite, et, par le fait de sa permanence,