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The Black Bloc Papers An Anthology of Primary Texts
from the North American Anarchist Black Bloc 1988 2005
The Battle of Seattle Through The Anti War Movement
Second Expanded and Updated Edition David Van
Deusen Digital Instant Download
Author(s): David Van Deusen, Xaviar Massot
ISBN(s): 9781902593548, 1902593545
File Details: PDF, 3.24 MB
Year: 2002
Language: english
Copyright 2010

Project Editor: Chuck Munson

First Online Printing, January 2010

Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data

The Black Bloc Papers: An Anthology of Primary Texts From The North American Anar-
chist Black Bloc 1999-2001 The Battle of Seattle (N30) Through Quebec City (A20)

ISBN 0-9791671-0-8

Breaking Glass Press

Alternative Media Project
PO Box 7171
Shawnee Mission, KS 66207
USA

Breaking Glass Press is an imprint of the Alternative Media Project and Infoshop.org.

Front cover art by Bree Johnson ([email protected]).

Back cover art by Mike Flugennock (http://sinkers.org/)

Book layout and design by Chuck Munson. Body text set in Bembo with Univers Con-
densed for headings.
 The Black Bloc Papers
is dedicated to the revolutionary memory of Carlo Giuliani,
who lost his life battling the forces of capital in the streets of
Genoa, Italy, in 2001.

His memory lives in our hearts and our fists.

The Black Bloc
Papers
An Anthology of Primary Texts
From The North American Anarchist
Black Bloc
1988-2005
The Battle of Seattle
Through
The Anti-War Movement

Edited and compiled by

David Van Deusen and Xaviar Massot
of The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective

Breaking Glass Press

Shawnee Mission, Kansas
 The Black Bloc Papers

Table of Contents
Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
by Xavier Massot of The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective

Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Bad Attitudes and Dirty Money
by Xavier Massot of The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective

Chapter I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Emergence of The Black Bloc and The Movement Towards Anarchism:
“Get Busy Living, Or Get Busy Dying”
by David Van Deusen of The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective

The Emergence of The Black Bloc: History, Employed Tactics and General
Constituency; The New Capitalism and Its System of Radical Commodifica-
tion and Consumerism Counterculture As Social Revolution

Chapter II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Early Clashes, North America, 1988-1999
by David Van Deusen

Chapter III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Battle of Seattle/N30: The Anti-WTO Protests November-December, 1999

An Overview
Peasant Revolt! by the Acme Collective
Black Block Participant Interview by Steve [Active Transformation]

Chapter IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
A16: D.C. and the International Monetary Fund / World Bank
April 2000

An Overview
 A16 Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Bloc Statement
Endorsing The Call For A Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Bloc
by Price, Fettes and Caldwell
April 17, 2000 Washington, D.C. by Chuck Munson (Infoshop News)
Another A16 Report From The Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Bloc by Shawn
Black Bloc the new Minute Men by gunga din
Don’t forget the Minute Woman! by Shawn

Chapter V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
May Day, May 2000

An Overview
Anarchists And Mayday, A Statement From The Black Bloc (New York City)
New York City Mayday—New York City Black Bloc by gunga din

Chapter VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
The Windsor/Detroit Actions Against The OAS/FTAA
June 2000

An Overview
Call for an Anti-Capitalist Revolutionary Bloc at the OAS / FTAA Action in
Windsor Ontario

Chapter VII .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
R2K: Philadelphia and The RNC (Republican National Convention)
July-August 2000

An Overview
Black Bloc Press Release Statement From The R2K Black Bloc
Communiqué #1 From a Wanted Black Bloc Anarchist

Chapter VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
D2K: LA and The DNC
August 2000

An Overview
Black Bloc’s View of Last Nights Police Riot by Left Out
Letter From Four Persons who were in the D2K Black Bloc by Antibody,
Spazz, Sketch & Entropy
Chapter IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
03: Boston and The Debate
October 2000

An Overview
Black Block Perspective on Boston o3 by Nicolas [The Barricada Collective]
The Black Bloc and Movement Solidarity by BB

Chapter X .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
017: Saint Louis and Another Debate
October 2000

An Overview
Black Bloc! Congrats and Strategy by Treesong

Chapter XI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Montreal Actions against The G20
October 2000

An Overview
Violence and Pacifism by Mathieu
Violence et Pacifisme by Mathieu

Chapter XII .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
N16: Cincinnati and The TABD
November 2000

An Overview
Call For Anti-Capitalist Action on N16 by The Columbus Anti-Racist Action
N16 From a black bloc perspective by yertle the turtle
Black Bloc Organizers Respond To Mike Dolan by Columbus ARA
A Poem ‘Red November, Black November’ a tribute to the Black Bloc at N16
by R. Caplin and Friends

Chapter XIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

J20: DC and Inauguration Day
January 2001
An Overview
A Call For a United Revolutionary Presence At The Inauguration
Statements Concerning Upcoming J20 Action by The Barricada Collective
 Some Notes on the DC Black Bloc by a RAAB Organizer
Account and Analysis of Inauguration Day RAAB by The Barricada Collec-
tive

Chapter XIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

A20: Quebec City
April 2001

An Overview
Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Offensive by Autonomous Organizing Collective
of Anti-Authoritarians

Chapter XV .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
D.C. and The Twin Towers: A Battle Postponed
September 28-29, 2001

An Overview
IMF/WB Call To Action
Call To Action Against The War
Interview Concerning 9-28 Protest

Chapter XVI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Against Columbus Day: AIM & The Black Bloc in Denver
October 5-8, 2001

Transform Columbus Day: Analysis by Anonymous Anarchist

Chapter XVII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

The Battle of York
January 12, 2002

An Overview
Call To Action in York by Philadelphia Anti-Racist Action
Anti-Racists Defeat Neo-Nazi Recruiting Drive by Anti-Racist Action
Street Fighting For The Future by Nicolas
Interview With Black Blocer Concerning York
Interview With Imprisoned Anarchist by Tim Fashact

Photos from Black Blocs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Chapter XVIII ............................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Out With The Rich! Anti-WEF Protests in New York City
January 31-February 4, 2002

An Overview
Anarchist Mobilization Against The WEF
When Wearing a Mask is a Revolutionary Act by Chuck Munson

Chapter XIX .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Anti-Fascism in D.C. and the Baltimore 28
April 24, 2002

An Overview
They Will Not Pass!
Fascist, Anti-Fascists, and The State by Flint
Statement From The Baltimore 28
Support The Baltimore 28!
Cops & Nazis Fail To Prevent Show by New Jersey Anti-Racist Action
Poetry For The Baltimore 28 by Anonymous

Chapter XX .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Boston: Convergence of Struggles
May 5, 2002

An Overview
Take The Streets!
Festival Del Pueblo: Critical Analysis by Nicolas
Why Not Pink? by Molotif

Chapter XXI .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Bush Not Welcome in Portland, OR
August 22, 2002

An Overview
Black Bloc Call To Action
Chapter XXII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Anti-Fascism in Maine
January 11, 2003
 An Overview
Call To Action by GMAC
Stop The WCOC! [The Call] by East Coast Anti-Racist Action
Analysis: Antifa Bloc in Lewiston by Lady
What Happened in Lewiston? by ARA & NEFAC
Interview With Lady Concerning Lewiston

Chapter XXIII .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

J26: Black Bloc & Buccaneers Win!
January 26, 2003

An Overview
Anarchist Call To Action
Communiqué From The J26 Black Bloc

Chapter XXIV .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

The People Say No To War!
February 15, 2003

An Overview
Anarchist Call For Global Action Against Capitalism & War
New York City: F-15 Anarchist Red & Black Contingent
Los Angeles Black Bloc Call
Chicago Anarchist & Anti-Capitalist Call To Action
Columbus, Ohio, Call For Militant Contingent by AWA
Anti-Capitalist Feeder March, Philly
NEFAC Represents Against The War by NEFAC
Anarchists Against The War by Open City Collective

Chapter XXV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

M-15: The War Machine Must Stop!
March 15, 2003

An Overview
SF Splinter March Report by BBB
SF Breakaway March by Black Bloc
The Real Protest: World Bank Take Over, D.C. by Michaelis
D.C. Bloc by 1
D.C. Communiqué by John Doe
Was Around, D.C by None Provided
Chapter XXVI .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
When The War Started…
March 19-27, 2003

An Overview
Bring The War Home! [San Francisco call]
When The War Starts, The World Stops! by NEFAC
When The War Starts… [New Jersey call]
Black Bloc Call To Action: New York City
Portland, Oregon, Black Bloc Communiqués
March 19 Breakaway, New York City

Chapter XXVII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Blood In The Streets In The Town of Miami: Against The FTAA
November 2003

An Overview
Anti-Capitalist Bloc of The Americas by Great Plains Anarchist Network
APOC Bloc Call To Action
Anarchy In Miami by Ryan Hastings

Chapter XXVIII .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Bush In Pittsburgh
April 19, 2004

An Overview
Protest Bush In Pittsburgh: Call For a Black Bloc

Chapter XXVIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

The March For Woman’s Lives
August 25, 2004

An Overview
Call For Anti-Fascist Bloc by NY ARA
Radical Pro-Choice Call To Action
We’re Pro-Choice & We Riot! by ARA
Radical Cheer Bloc by Tristan
Chapter XXX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Valley Forge Battlefield: Black Bloc Vs. Nazis
September 25 2004

An Overview
Call To Action: All Out For Valley Forge! by Philly ARA
The Battle of Valley Forge!
Interview With Three Black Bloc’ers About Valley Forge

Chapter XXXI .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Back In Black: Inauguration Day 2005
January 20, 2005

The Parade Must End!

Call For A Militant Anti-Fascist Contingent by Mobtown ARA
Call For a Anti-Fundamentalist Bloc
Report From Anti-Authoritarian Bloc by a Group of Activists From West
Michigan
The Kids Are All Right: Report From Inauguration Protests
by New York City CIC
What Happened in Adams Morgan by The Circle A Brigade

Chapter XXXII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Organization & Tactics

An Overview
A Communiqué On Tactics And Organization To The Black Bloc From Within
The Black Bloc by The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective
Reforming The Black Bloc: Tactics and Ideology by Severino
Has The Black Bloc Tactic Reached The End of Its Usefulness? by Severino
Defeating Mass Arrests: V Formations & Police Lines by Luke

The Black Bloc Papers: An Afterword .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

by Xavier Massot

Appendix .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Call For Large Anarchist Contingent At Millions For Mumia, 1999

 Author’s Note to The Second Edition of The
Black Bloc Papers

Since X and myself put together the first edition of this book back in the spring
of 2001 much has come to pass. Not least of which were the tragic attacks on
the four commercial airliners and the Twin Towers on 9-11. Since then, the anti-
globalization movement has made way for a larger, but less comprehensive anti-
war movement. While there is much room for optimism in the continuing class
struggle, there is also plenty to be concerned about. The scrapping of much of the
U.S. Bill of Rights, the neo-con attacks on New Deal programs (including social
security), and the ever-escalating war in Iraq are the first things that come to mind.
As I put the final touches on this second edition, the U.S. military has suffered over
20,000 casualties in Iraq (including 4,400+ dead), the threat of a draft is looming, as
is talk of further imperialist invasions. On the other hand, people across the globe
are rising up to meet these challenges. Let us not forget March of 2003 which wit-
nessed the largest anti-war demonstrations in the history or the world.
With that being said, it should be noted that while this volume covers many
Black Bloc actions over the last twenty years, it does not cover all of them. Many
more recent actions are omitted from this volume for the simple reason that there
are not sufficient written accounts, calls to action, and reports about them. The
most significant of these little known actions were the anti-WTO demonstrations
in Cancun, Mexico in 2003. A Black Bloc at those protests provided militant
perimeter security for a contingent of South Korean workers who successfully
brought down a large portion of the police fence separating protesters from the
capitalists. These actions were, of course, hugely successful and were a factor in
the WTO talks utterly breaking down. In addition to Cancun, there have been
dozens of other Black Bloc actions, occurring in places like Texas, Louisiana, Ari-
zona, Indiana, Columbus, Ohio, Alberta Canada, and Washington, D.C. that are
also not discussed in this book for the same reasons. The reader will notice that a
number of large and historically significant protests are conspicuously missing from
this collection. Four examples include the 100,000 strong 2004 May Day march
in Montreal (which was the largest May 1st action in Quebec’s history), the half
million strong Republican National Convention (RNC) demonstrations in New
York City in 2004 (which were by far the largest ever against a domestic political
convention), the Million Worker March in D.C., as well as a number of anti-war
demonstrations, which numbered at least 100,000. These protests were omitted
because of the simple fact that while they included large anarchist contingents,
these contingents were not what we can consider “Black Blocs.”
 When the first edition of this book was published in 2002, it was pointed out
that the book fails to map out an integrated strategy for social revolution. Here
I would like to point out that this is not the purpose of this work. While the
Green Mountain Anarchist Collective and myself are deeply involved with rank
and file union organizing and building direct democracy in our communities, this
is not the place to go into our ideas on comprehensive social change. If readers
are interested in what the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective thinks about such
larger issues, we suggest you find and read our pamphlet “Neither Washington
Nor Stowe.” This book, on the other hand, seeks to impart a better understanding
of the Black Bloc, the tactics it employs, and the actions which it has been part
of. Those who are seeking social change theories, long term programs of action,
and an overarching cultural-historical analysis would do better picking up Marx,
Bakunin, or Debord. Our sight here is exclusively fixed upon those brave black
clad women and men who dare to challenge the authority of the police baton with
fire in their heart and a fist in the air.

Solidarity,
David Van Deusen, founding member of the
Green Mountain Anarchist Collective,
May 1, 2006, Vermont
The Vision of Anarchy We Fight For is
One of Direct Participatory
Democracy, Equality, and Dignity
Government = Slavery
Anarchy = Freedom

Green Mountain Anarchist Collective

Note: The views expressed in both the following introduction, the

essay entitled ‘The Emerging of the Black Bloc and the Movement
Towards Anarchism’, the brief commentaries which begin each
chapter of this book and the afterward are not intended to be
the definitive position of the Black Bloc or of the revolutionary
Anarchist left generally. It definitively represents the position of
the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective solely. In addition, each
document included in this work expresses the views of the indi-
vidual or collective by which it is signed and/or of those by whom
it was composed. While many of these positions are generally shared
within the Anarchist community, it must be understood that this
(our) community, like any other healthy example, is diverse in
opinion and temperament. Our only unchanging commonalities lie
in our contention that society should and will be controlled by
direct and participatory democratic means by all individuals towards
mutually beneficial, equitable, dignified and organically creative
ends.

—The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective

About The Authors
David Van Deusen
resides in a log cabin in northern Vermont and is a founding member of the Green
Mountain Anarchist Collective. In addition he is a rank and file member of the
National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981) as well as the Teamsters. He is cur-
rently a District Vice President in the Vermont AFL-CIO, and is News Editor
of Catamount Tavern News. He is a former member of Anti-Racist Action and
the Northeast Federation of Anarcho-Communists. He has marched in numerous
Black Blocs, the first being in Chicago in 1996.

Xavier Massot
is originally from Brittany, France. For more then ten years he has resided, off and
on, in New England, U.S.A., and Paris, France. In recent years he has labored as
a bartender in a working class tavern, as a school teacher, in a warehouse, as an
archaeologist, and has occasionally gotten paid for playing rock and roll with the
Putnigs. He is currently the obituary writer for Catamount Tavern News where he
also serves as shop delegate for the Lithorgaphers Local 1L-Teamsters. Xavier co-
founded the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective in December of 2000. Xavier
marched in his first Black Bloc in 1999, at the Millions for Mumia demonstra-
tion.

Extra material and updates

Additional texts, news about black blocs, updated analysis, forums, and other
updates are available on the web: www.infoshop.org/BlackBlocPapers

We welcome people to add new material to the website so that this book is just
one part of a continuing and evolving conversation about black blocs and anarchist
politics.
 

Forward
By Xavier Massot

The volume which you are holding is a compilation of communiques from people
who stood with and were participants in Black Blocs (be they specifically referred
to as “Anti-Capitalist Blocs,” “Red Blocs,” etc.). Each piece contains a different
tone, and one hears, in these tones, differences in age, sex, and political maturity.
The importance of these texts lies in exhibiting the range of types participating
within the Black Bloc. The chapters, except for the first and the last, are dedicated
to different protests throughout North America over the years. Reading about the
Black Bloc by looking at what participants have had to say is the only way to gain a
legitimate insight into this aspect of the movement, short of actively being there.
The Black Bloc is an event, a force which congeals and dissipates according to
the consensus of those involved. It is important to keep this revolutionary elasticity
in mind when approaching this subject. The multiplicity of the people making up
the Bloc cannot be understated, even when coupled with their ostensibly singular
purpose as a rebel apparatus. It’s not an elite club, it’s an invitation to all and any
who wish to participate in the destruction of an unfair and unnecessary world
system.
Each chapter in this book (besides the first, second and last) begins with a gen-
eral overview. The overviews are essentially reflections, summaries, condensations,
and/or exclamations pertaining to the specific protest dealt with in the chapter.
We deem these important as structural companions to the communiques, since not
all of the protests may be familiar to the reader and require basic background infor-
mation. Overall the summaries vary in tone and concern depending on the protest
and the writer. Since there are two writers and numerious protests dealt with it
should not be surprising to find differences throughout the book. As with the
communiques, the overview section of each chapter should be seen as a primary
text from within the Black Bloc. David and I are Black Bloc, and have participated
actively in numerous aspects of various protests, the specifics of which cannot
be discussed here for obvious security reasons. One will also notice a number of
interviews throught the chapters. Unless noted otherwize, these were conducted
by David.
As participants of Black Bloc actions, it seems of great importance that texts such
as these get cataloged and redistributed. We cannot let capitalism write us out of
our immeadiate past.
In addition, we strongly believe that this anthology had to be compiled from
within the Bloc. Any external attempt to put together such a work would have
necessarily resulted in a certain separateness, not to mention inaccuracy and misper-
ception, and hence would have been suspect at best.
 The Black Block Papers

Lastly, the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective, as well as others we are in

contact with, believe that the anarchist possibilities for a better humanity inherent
in chaotic situations such as these street protests should be read and written about
as often as possible. In themselves they represent instances of freedom and signals
of the possibility of basic change.
We will see some of you on the front lines. That is inevitable. Read the rest, and
fare thee well.

www.infoshop.org/page/BlackBlocPapers
 

Introduction
Bad Attitudes and Dirty Money
An introduction by Xavier Massot
of The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective

It is a strange pill to swallow, the notion that some of your peers, people you don’t
know, represent your interests. It is an old tradition, it has given most of us the title
of civilians, and it has made others our rulers. Although each life, upon a short and
close look, obviously contains its own unfathomable trajectory it has been the way
of the modern world to pigeon-hole and harness the energy of each life towards
historically questionable ends. This practice, abusing the young in order to eter-
nalize the old, has led us to a point in history in which lives are spent for the sake
of the machine’s continuing momentum. Inane, insane, or otherwise, we all go
through the hopper from our birth to our determined, predictable, and sometimes
socially necessary, death.
This text is an attempt to communicate the reality of a world in which your stan-
dard, modern day politician is a buffoon. We all came into this world kicking and
screaming. The supposed facilitators of our homes, towns, and countries have no
more insight than anybody else. There are people of great capability who outshine
others through their efforts and convictions, but these good people will rarely
strive to rule. They are usually too intelligent or humble to seek the cult of power
and personality that is the reward and goal of modern politics.
Perhaps, rather than buying into this brokered sacrifice of our brothers and sisters
in a quibble over the choicest scraps from the table, the old tradition of survival is
one to be revered.
My aim is not to lay blame on those before us, but rather to attack the misuse
and propagandisation of instincts which have allowed our clawless and furless
breed to survive. Dan Quayle, for example, telling us about family values. Fami-
lies happen, they are not state property, and the overzealous concern of officials
towards the expansion of humanity does nothing but undermine any real attempts
at human progress.
This book is aimed at humanity’s current trajectory, and in doing so must address
the arc of that trajectory, including its root in the past. I personally have no desire
to re-write history, and I respect my elders for their time, endurance, and sacrifices.
This being true, it is still time for a shift in human affairs, a statement made not to
belittle those who came before but rather to bring awareness to those whose turn it
is to carry human life forward. Technology has brought much to our lives which is
Other documents randomly have
different content
 EARTH-WORMS IN HISTORY.
Earth-worms are found throughout the world. Though few in
genera, and not many in species, yet they make up in individual
numbers, for it has been estimated that they average about one
hundred thousand to the acre. Our American species have never
been monographed, which renders it impossible to judge of their
probable number. Their castings may be seen on commons, so as to
cover almost entirely their surface, where the soil is poor and the
grass short and thin, and they are almost as numerous in some of
our parks where the grass grows well and the soil appears rich. Even
on the same piece of ground worms are much more frequent in
some places than in others, although no visible difference in the
nature of the soil is manifest. They abound in paved court-yards
contiguous to houses, and on the sidewalks in country towns, and
instances have been reported where they have burrowed through
the floors of very damp cellars.
Beneath large trees few castings can be found during certain parts
of the year, and this is apparently due to the moisture having been
sucked out of the ground by the innumerable roots of the trees, an
explanation which seems to be confirmed by the fact that such
places may be observed covered with castings after the heavy
autumnal rains. Although most coppices and woods support large
numbers of worms, yet in forests of certain kinds of tree-growths,
where the ground beneath is destitute of vegetation, not a casting is
seen over wide reaches of ground, even during the autumn. In
mountainous districts worms are mostly rare, it would seem, a
circumstance which is perhaps owing to the close proximity of the
subjacent rocks, into which it is impossible for them to burrow
during the winter, so as to escape being frozen. But there are some
exceptions to this rule, for they have been found at great altitudes in
certain parts of the world, and especially is this so in India, where
they have been observed to be quite numerous upon the mountains.
Though in one sense semi-aquatic animals, like the other
members of the great class of Annelids to which they belong, yet it
cannot be denied that earth-worms are terrestrial creatures. Their
exposure to the dry air of a room for a single night proves fatal to
them, while on the other hand they have been kept alive for nearly
four months completely submerged in water. During the summer,
when the ground is dry, they penetrate to a great depth and cease
to work, just as they do in winter when the ground is frozen. They
are nocturnal in their habits, and may be seen crawling about in
large numbers at night, but generally with their tails still inserted in
their burrows. By the expansion of this part of the body, and with
the aid of the short reflexed bristles with which they are armed
inferiorly, they hold so securely that they can seldom be withdrawn
from the ground without being torn in pieces. But during the day,
except at the time of pairing, when those which inhabit adjoining
burrows expose the greater part of their bodies for an hour or two in
the early morning, they remain in their burrows. Sick individuals,
whose illness is caused by the parasitic larvæ of a fly, must also be
excepted, as they wander about during the day and die on the
surface. Astonishing numbers of dead worms may sometimes be
seen lying on the ground after a heavy rain succeeding dry weather,
no less than a half-hundred in a space of a few square yards, but
these are doubtless worms that were already sick, whose deaths
were merely hastened by the ground being flooded, for if they had
been drowned it is probable, from the facts already given, that they
would have perished in their burrows.
After there has been a heavy rain the film of mud or of very fine
sand to be seen over gravel-walks in the morning is often distinctly
marked with the tracks of worms. From May to August, inclusive,
this has been noticed when the months have been wet. Very few
dead worms are anywhere to be seen on these occasions, although
the walks are marked with innumerable tracks, five tracks often
being counted crossing a space of only an inch square, which could
be traced either to or from the mouths of the burrows in the gravel-
walks for distances varying from three to fifteen yards, but no two
tracks being seen to lead to the same burrow. It is not likely, from
what is known of the sense-organs of these animals, that a worm
could find its way back to its burrow after having once left it. They
leave their burrows, it would seem, on a voyage of discovery, and
thus they find new sites for the exercise of their powers. For hours
together they may often be seen lying almost motionless beneath
the mouths of their burrows. But let the ejected earth or rubbish
over their burrows be suddenly removed and the end of the worm’s
body may be seen rapidly retreating.
This habit of lying near the surface leads to their destruction to an
immense extent, for, at certain seasons of the year, the robins and
blackbirds that visit our lawns in the country may be observed
drawing out of their holes an astonishing number of worms, which
could not be done unless they lay close to the surface. But what
brings the worms to the surface? This is a question whose answer
cannot be positively asserted. It is not probable that they behave in
this manner for the purpose of breathing fresh air, for it has been
seen that they can live a long time under water. That they are there
for the sake of warmth, especially in the morning, is a more
reasonable supposition, which seems to be confirmed by the fact
that they often coat the mouths of their burrows with leaves,
apparently to prevent their bodies from coming into contact with the
cold, damp earth, and by the still other fact that they completely
close their burrows during the winter.
Some remarks about the structure of the earth-worm now appear
apropos. Its body consists of from one hundred to two hundred
almost cylindrical rings, each provided with minute bristles. The
muscular system is well developed, thus enabling these animals to
crawl backwards as well as forwards, and to retreat by the help of
their affixed tails into their burrows with extraordinary rapidity.
Situated at the anterior end of the body is the mouth. It is furnished
with a little projection, variously called the lobe or lip, which is used
for prehension. Behind the mouth, internally located, is a strong
pharynx, which is pushed forwards when the animal eats,
corresponding, it is said, with the protrudable trunk of other
Annelids. The pharynx conducts to the œsophagus, on each side of
the lower part of which are placed three pairs of large glands, called
calciferous glands, whose function is the secretion of carbonate of
lime. These glands are very remarkable organs, and their like is not
to be found in any other animal. Their use is connected in some way
with the process of digestion. The œsophagus, in most of the
species, is enlarged into a crop in front of the gizzard. This latter
organ is lined with a smooth, thick chitinous membrane, and is
surrounded by weak, longitudinal, but powerful transverse muscles,
whose energetic action is most effectual in the trituration of the
food, for these worms possess no jaws, or teeth of any kind. Grains
of sand and small stones, from the one-twentieth to the one-tenth of
an inch in size, are found in their gizzards and intestines, and these
little stones, independently of those swallowed while excavating their
burrows, most probably serve, like millstones, to triturate their food.
The gizzard opens into the intestine—a most remarkable structure,
an intestine within an intestine—which runs in a straight line to the
vent at the posterior end of the body. But this curious structure, as
shown by Claparède, merely consists of a deep longitudinal
involution of the walls of the intestine, by which means an extensive
absorbent surface is secured.
Worms have a well-developed circulating system. Their breathing
is effected by the skin, and so they do not possess any special
respiratory apparatus. Each individual unites the two sexes in its own
body, but two individuals pair together. The nervous system is fairly
well developed, the two nearly confluent cerebral ganglia being
situated very close to the anterior extremity of the body.
Being destitute of eyes, we would naturally conclude that worms
were quite insensible to light; but from many experiments that have
been made by Darwin, Hofmeister and others, it is evident that light
affects them, but only by its intensity and duration. It is the anterior
extremity of the body, where the cerebral ganglia lie, that is
affected, for if this part is shaded and other parts of the body are
illuminated no effect will be produced. As these animals have no
eyes, it is probable that the light passes through their skins and
excites in some manner their cerebral ganglia. When worms are
employed in dragging leaves into their burrows or in eating them,
and even during the brief intervals of rest from their labors, they
either do not perceive the light or are regardless of it, and this is
even the case when the light is concentrated upon them through a
large lens. Paired individuals will remain for an hour or two together
out of their burrows, fully exposed to the morning light, but it
appears, from what some writers have said, that a light will
occasionally cause paired individuals to separate. When a worm is
suddenly illuminated and dashes into its burrow, one is led to look at
the action as a reflex one, the irritation of the cerebral ganglia
apparently causing certain muscles to contract in an inevitable
manner, without the exercise of the will or consciousness of the
animal, as though it was an automaton. But the different effect
which a light produces on different occasions, and especially the fact
that a worm when in any way occupied, no matter what set of
muscles and ganglia may be brought into play, is often regardless of
light, are antagonistic to the view of the sudden withdrawal being a
simple reflex action. With the higher animals, when close attention
to some object leads to the disregard of the impressions which other
objects must be producing upon them, we ascribe this to their
attention being then absorbed, and attention necessarily implies the
presence of mind. Although worms cannot be said to possess the
power of vision, yet their sensitiveness to light enables them to
discriminate between day and night, and thus they escape the
attacks of the many diurnal animals that would prey upon them.
They are less sensitive to a moderate radiant heat than to a bright
light, as repeated experiments have conclusively shown; and their
disinclination to leave their burrows during a frost proves that they
are sensitive to a low temperature.
Investigation fails to locate in worms any organ of hearing, from
which must be concluded that they are insensible to sounds. The
shrill notes of a metallic whistle sounded near them, and the deepest
and loudest tones of a bassoon, failed to awaken the least notice.
Although indifferent to modulations in the air, audible to human ears,
yet they are extremely sensitive to vibrations in any solid object.
Even the light and delicate tread of a robin affrights and sends them
deep into their burrows. It has been said that if the ground is
beaten, or otherwise made to tremble, that worms believe they are
pursued by a mole and leave their burrows, but this does not stand
the test of experiment, for the writer has frequently beaten the
ground in many places where these creatures abounded, but not
one emerged. A worm’s entire body is sensitive to contact, the
slightest puff of air from the mouth causing an instant retreat. When
a worm first comes out of its burrow it generally moves the much-
extended anterior extremity of its body from side to side in all
directions, apparently as an object of touch, and there is good
reason to believe that they are thus enabled to gain a general
knowledge of the form of an object. Touch, including in this term the
perception of a vibration, seems much the most highly developed of
all their senses. The sense of smell is quite feeble, and is apparently
confined to the perception of certain odors. They are quite
indifferent to the human breath, even when tainted by tobacco, or to
a pellet of cotton-wool with a few drops of Millefleur’s perfume when
held by pincers and moved about within a few inches of them. The
perception of such an unnatural odor would be of no service to
them. Now, as such timid creatures would almost certainly exhibit
some signs of any new impression, we may reasonably conclude that
they did not perceive these odors. But when cabbage leaves and
pieces of onion were employed, both of which are devoured with
much relish by worms, the result was different. These, with bits of
fresh raw meat, have been buried in pots beneath one-fourth of an
inch of common garden soil, or sometimes laid on pieces of tin foil in
the earth, the ground being pressed down slightly, so as not to
prevent the emission of any odor, and yet they were always
discovered by the worms that were placed in the pots, and removed
after varying periods of time. These facts indicate that worms
possess some power of smell, and that they discover by this means
odoriferous and much-coveted kinds of food.
That all animals which feed on various substances possess the
sense of taste, is a wise presumption. This is certainly the case with
worms. Cabbage leaves are much liked by worms, and it would
seem that they are able to distinguish between the different
varieties, but this may perhaps be owing to differences in their
texture. When leaves of the cabbage, horse-radish and onion were
given together, they manifestly preferred the last to the others.
Celery is preferred to the leaves of the cabbage, lime-tree,
ampelopsis and parsnip, and the leaves of the wild cherry and
carrots, especially the latter, to all the others. That the worms have a
preference for one taste over another, is still further shown from
what follows. Pieces of the leaves of cabbage, turnip, horse-radish
and onion have been fed to the worms, mingled with the leaves of
an Artemisia and of the culinary sage, thyme and mint, differing in
no material degree in texture from the foregoing four, yet quite as
strong in taste, but the latter were quite neglected excepting those
of the mint, which were slightly nibbled, but the others were all
attacked and had to be renewed.
There is little to be noted about the mental qualities of worms.
They have been seen to be timid creatures. Their eagerness for
certain kinds of food manifestly shows that they must enjoy the
pleasure of eating. So strong is their sexual passion that they
overcome for a time their dread of light. They seem to have a trace
of social feeling, for they are not disturbed by crawling over each
other’s bodies, and they sometimes lie in contact. Although
remarkably deficient in the several sense-organs, yet this does not
necessarily preclude intelligence, for it has been shown that when
their attention is engaged they neglect impressions to which they
would otherwise have attended, and attention, as is well known,
indicates the presence of a mind of some kind. A few actions are
performed instinctively, that is, all the individuals, including the
young, perform each action in nearly the same manner. The various
species of Perichæta eject their castings so as to construct towers,
and the burrows of the Common Earth-worm—Lumbricus terrestris—
are smoothly lined with fine earth and often with little stones, and
the mouth with leaves. One of their strongest instincts is the
plugging up of the mouths of their burrows with various objects, the
very young worms acting in a similar manner. But some degree of
intelligence is manifested, as will subsequently appear.
 Almost everything is eaten by worms. They swallow enormous
quantities of earth, from which they extract any digestible matter it
may contain. Large numbers of half-decayed leaves of all kinds,
excepting a few that are too tough and unpleasant to the taste, and
likewise petioles, peduncles, and decayed flowers. Fresh leaves are
consumed as well. Particles of sugar, licorice and starch, and bits of
raw and roasted meat, and preferably raw fat, are eaten when they
come into their possession, but the last article with a better relish
than any other substance given to them. They are cannibals to a
certain extent, and have been known to eat the dead bodies of their
own companions.
The digestive fluid of worms, according to León Frédéricq, is
analogous in nature to the pancreatic secretion of the higher
animals, and this conclusion agrees perfectly with the kinds of food
which they consume. Pancreatic juice emulsifies fat, dissolves fibrin,
and worms greedily devour fat and eat raw meat. It converts starch
into grape-sugar with wonderful rapidity, and the digestive fluid of
worms acts upon the starch of leaves. But worms live chiefly on half-
decayed leaves, and these would be useless to them unless they
could digest the cellulose forming the cell-walls, for all other
nutritious substances, as is well known, are almost completely
withdrawn from leaves shortly before they fall off. It has been
ascertained that cellulose, though very little or not at all attacked by
the gastric juice of the higher animals, is acted on by that from the
pancreas, and so worms eat the leaves as much for the cellulose as
for the starch they contain. The half-decayed or fresh leaves which
are intended for food are dragged into the mouths of their burrows
to a depth of from one to three inches, and are then moistened with
a secreted fluid, which has been assumed to hasten their decay, but
which, from its alkaline nature, and from its acting both on the
starch-granules and on the protoplasmic contents of the cells, is not
of the nature of saliva, but a pancreatic secretion, and of the same
kind as is found in the intestines of worms. As the leaves which are
dragged into the burrows are often dry and shrivelled, it is
indispensable for the unarmed mouths of worms that they should
first be moistened and softened, their disintegration being thereby
the more readily effected. Fresh leaves, however soft and tender
they may be, are similarly treated, probably from habit. Thus the
leaves are partially digested before they are taken into the
alimentary canal, an instance of extra-stomachal digestion, whose
nearest analogy is to be found in such plants as Dionæa and
Drosera, for in them animal matter is digested and converted into
peptone, not within a stomach, but on the surfaces of the leaves.
But no portion of the economy of worms has been more the
subject of speculation than the calciferous glands. About as many
theories have been advanced on their utility as there have been
observers. Judging from their size and from their rich supply of
blood-vessels, they must be of vast importance to these animals.
They consist of three pairs, which in the Common Earth-worm
debouch into the alimentary canal in front of the gizzard, but
posteriorly to it, in some genera. The two posterior pairs are formed
by lamellæ, diverticula from the œsophagus, which are coated with
a pulpy cellular layer, with the outer cells lying free in infinite
numbers. If one of these glands is punctured and squeezed, a
quantity of white, pulpy matter exudes, consisting of these free cells,
which are minute bodies, varying in diameter from two to six
millimetres. They contain in their centres a small quantity of
excessively fine granular matter, that looks so like oil globules that
many scientists are deceived by its appearance. When treated with
acetic acid they quickly dissolve with effervescence. An addition of
oxalate of ammonia to the solution throws down a white precipitate,
showing that the cells contain carbonate of lime. The two anterior
glands differ a little in shape from the four posterior ones by being
more oval, and also conspicuously in generally containing several
small, or two or three larger, or a single very large concretion of
carbonate of lime, as much as one and one-half millimetres in
diameter. With respect to the function of the calciferous glands, it is
likely that they primarily serve as organs of excretion, and
secondarily as an aid to digestion. Worms consume many fallen
leaves. It is known that lime goes on accumulating in leaves until
they drop off the parent-plant, instead of being re-absorbed into the
stem or roots, like various other organic and inorganic substances,
and worms would therefore be liable to become charged with this
earth, unless there was some special apparatus for its excretion, and
for this purpose the calciferous glands are ably adapted. On the
other hand, the carbonate of lime, which is excreted by the glands,
aids the digestive process under ordinary circumstances. Leaves
during their decay generate an abundance of various kinds of acids,
which have been grouped together under the term of humus acids.
These half-decayed leaves, which are swallowed by worms in large
quantities, would, therefore, after having been moistened and
triturated in the alimentary canal, be apt to produce such acids, and
in the case of several worms, whose alimentary canals were
examined, their contents were plainly shown by litmus paper to be
decidedly acid. This acidity cannot be attributed to the nature of the
digestive fluid, for pancreatic juice is alkaline, and so also is the
secretion which is poured out of the mouths of worms for the
preparation of the leaves for consumption. With worms not only the
contents of the intestines, but their ejected matter or the castings
are generally acid. The digestive fluid of worms resembles in its
action, as already stated, the pancreatic secretion of the higher
animals, and in these latter pancreatic digestion is necessarily
alkaline, and the action will not take place unless some alkali be
present; and the activity of an alkaline juice is arrested by
acidification, and hindered by neutralization. Therefore is seems
probable that innumerable calciferous cells, which are emptied from
the four posterior glands in the alimentary canal, serve to neutralize
more or less completely the acids generated there by the half-
decayed leaves. These cells, as has been seen, are instantly
dissolved by a small quantity of acetic acid, and as they do not
always suffice to render of no effect the contents of the upper part
of the alimentary canal, it is probable that the lime is aggregated
into concretions, in the anterior pair of glands, in order that some
may be conveyed to the posterior parts of the intestine, where these
concretions would be rolled about among the acid contents. The
concretions found in the intestines and in the castings often present
a worn appearance, but whether due to attrition or chemical
corrosion it is impossible to say. That they are formed for the sake of
acting as mill stones, as Claparède believed, and of thus assisting in
the trituration of food, is not at all likely, as this object is already
attained by the stones that are present in the gizzards and
intestines.
In dragging leaves into their burrows worms generally seize the
thin edge of a leaf with their mouths, between the projecting upper
and lower lip, the thick and strong pharynx at the same time being
pushed forwards within their bodies, so as to afford a point de
resistance for the upper lip; but in the case of broad and flat objects
the pointed anterior extremity of the body, after being brought into
contact with an object of this kind, is drawn within the adjoining
rings, so that it becomes truncated and as thick as the rest of the
body. This part is then seen to swell a little, seemingly from the
pharynx being pushed a little forwards. By a slight withdrawal of the
pharynx, or by its expansion, a vacuum is produced beneath the
truncated, slimy end of the body whilst in contact with the object,
and by this means the two adhere firmly together. Worms can attach
themselves to an object in the same manner under the water.
 COMMON EARTH-WORMS.
Out on a Foraging Excursion.

As worms have no teeth, and their mouths consist of very soft

tissue, it may be presumed that they consume by means of suction
of the edges and parenchyma of fresh leaves after they have been
softened by the digestive fluid. They cannot attack such strong
leaves as those of sea-kale or large and thick leaves of ivy. They not
only seize leaves and other objects for purposes of food, but for
plugging up the mouths of their burrows. Flower-peduncles, decayed
twigs of trees, bits of paper, feathers, tufts of wool and horse-hair
are some of the many things other than leaves that are dragged into
their burrows for this purpose. Many hundred leaves of the pine-tree
have been found drawn by their bases into burrows. Where fallen
leaves are abundant, especially ordinary dicotyledonous leaves,
many more than can be used are collected over the mouth of a
burrow, so that a small pile of unused leaves is left like a roof over
those which have been partly dragged in. A leaf in being dragged a
little way into a cylindrical burrow necessarily becomes much folded
or crumpled, and when another is drawn in, this is done exteriorly to
the first, and so on with succeeding leaves, till finally they all
become closely folded and pressed together. Sometimes the mouth
of a burrow is enlarged, or a fresh one is made close by, so that a
larger number of leaves may be drawn in. Generally the interstices
between the drawn-in leaves are filled with moist, viscid earth
ejected from their bodies, thus rendering them doubly secure.
Hundreds of such plugged burrows may be seen during the
autumnal and early winter months.
When leaves, petioles, sticks, etc., cannot be obtained for the
mouths of their burrows, heaps of stones, smooth, rounded pebbles,
are utilized for protection. When the stones are removed and the
surface of the ground is cleared for some inches round the burrow,
the worms may be seen with their tails fixed in their burrows
dragging the stones inward by the aid of their mouths, stones
weighing as much as two ounces often being found in the little
heaps, which goes to show how strong these apparently weak
creatures are. Work of this kind is usually performed during the
night, although objects have been occasionally known to be drawn
into the burrows during the day. What advantage worms derive from
plugging up the mouths of their burrows, or from piling stones over
them, cannot be satisfactorily answered. They do not act in this
manner when they eject much earth from their burrows, for then
their castings serve to cover the mouth. Perhaps the plugs serve to
protect them from the attacks of scolopenders, their most inveterate
enemies, or to enable them to remain with safety with their heads
close to the mouths of their burrows, which they like so well to do,
but which, unless protected, costs many a fellow its life. Besides,
may not the plugs check the free ingress of the lowest stratum of air,
when chilled by radiation at night, from the surrounding ground and
herbage? The last view of the matter seems especially well taken,
because worms kept in pots where there is fire, having no cold air
with which to contend, plug up their burrows in a slovenly manner,
and because they often coat the upper part of their burrows with
leaves, apparently to prevent their bodies from coming into contact
with the cold, damp earth. But the plugging-up process may
undoubtedly serve for all these purposes. Whatever the motive may
be, it seems that worms much dislike leaving the mouths of their
burrows open, yet, nevertheless, they will reopen them at night,
whether or not they are able afterwards to close them.
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 the sharp end of the needle they suddenly withdrew as
though they had been pricked, but it is doubtful that they were hurt,
for they are indifferent to sharp objects, being known to swallow
rose-thorns and small splinters of glass. It may be doubted whether
the sharp end of the needle serves to tell them that is the wrong
end to seize, for the points of many were cut off for the length of an
inch, and these leaves were always drawn in by their bases and not
by the cut-off ends. The worms, it seemed, almost instantly
perceived as soon as they had seized a leaf in the proper manner.
Many leaves were cemented together at the top, or tied together by
fine thread, and these in the majority of instances were dragged in
by their bases, which leads to the conclusion that there must be
something attractive to worms in the base of pine-leaves,
notwithstanding that few ordinary leaves are drawn in by their base
or footstalk. Leaves of other plants, and also the petioles of some
compound plants, as well as triangular bits of paper, dry and damp,
were experimented with, and the manner of seizing the objects and
bearing them into their burrows were as amusing as they were novel
and interesting. The leaves and stems used were such as the worms
had not been accustomed to in their respective haunts.
When the several cases experimented on are considered, one can
hardly escape from the conclusion that some degree of intelligence
is shown by worms in plugging up their burrows. Each particular
object is seized in too uniform a manner, and from causes which we
can generally understand, for the result to be attributed to mere
chance. That every object has not been drawn in by its pointed end
may be accounted for by labor having been saved by some being
carried in by their broader ends. There is no doubt that worms are
governed by instinct in plugging up their burrows, and it might be
expected that they would have been taught in every particular
instance how to act independently of intelligence. It is very difficult
to judge when intelligence comes into play. The actions of animals,
appearing due to intelligence, may be performed through inherited
habit without any intelligence, although aboriginally acquired, or the
habit may be acquired through the preservation and inheritance of
some other action, and in the latter case the new habit will have
been acquired independently of intelligence throughout the entire
course of its development. There is no à priori improbability in
worms having acquired special instincts through either of these two
latter means. Nevertheless it is incredible that instincts should have
been developed in reference to objects, such as the leaves and
petioles of foreign plants, wholly unknown to the progenitors of the
worms which have acted in the manner just described. Nor are their
actions so unvarying or inevitable as are most true instincts.
 As worms are not controlled by special instincts in each particular
case, though possessing a general instinct to plug up their burrows,
and as chance is excluded, the next most probable conclusion is that
they try in many ways to draw in objects and finally succeed in some
one way. It is surprising, however, that an animal so low in the scale
as a worm should have the capacity to act in this way, as many
higher animals have no such capacity, the instincts of the latter often
being followed in a senseless or purposeless manner.
We can safely infer intelligence, as Mr. Romanes, who has specially
studied animals, says, only when we see an individual profiting by
his own experiences. That worms are able to judge either before or
after having drawn an object close to the mouths of their burrows
how best to drag it in, shows that they must have acquired some
notion of its general shape. This they probably acquire by touching it
in many places with the anterior extremity of their bodies, which
serves them as a tactile organ. Man, even when born blind and deaf,
shows how perfect the sense of touch may become, and if worms,
which also come into being in the same condition, have the power of
acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and
their burrows, they deserve, it must seem to every sensible mind, to
be called intelligent creatures, for they act in such a case in nearly
the same manner as a man would under similar circumstances. That
worms, which stand so low in the scale of organization, should
possess some degree of intelligence, will doubtless strike everyone
as very improbable. It may be doubted, however, whether we know
enough about the nervous system of the lower animals to justify our
natural distrust of such a conclusion. With regard to the small size of
the cerebral ganglia, we would do well to remember what a mass of
inherited knowledge, with some power of adapting means to an end,
is crowded into the minute brain of a worker ant.
Two ways are adopted by worms in excavating their burrows.
Either the earth is pushed away on all sides or it is swallowed by the
animal. In the former case the worm inserts the stretched-out and
attenuated anterior extremity of its body into any little crevice or
hole, and the pharynx is pushed forward into this part, which
consequently swells and pushes away the earth on all sides, the
anterior extremity thus acting as a wedge. When placed in loose
mould a worm will bury itself in between two and three minutes, but
in earth that is moderately pressed down it often requires as many
as fifteen minutes for its disappearance. But whenever a worm
burrows to a depth of several feet in undisturbed compact ground, it
must form its passage by swallowing the earth, for it is impossible
that the ground could yield on all sides to the pressure of the
pharynx when pushed forward within the worm’s body. Great depths
are reached only during continued dry weather and severe cold, the
burrows sometimes attaining to a depth of from seven to eight feet.
The burrows run down perpendicularly, or, more commonly,
obliquely, and are sometimes said to branch. Generally, or invariably
as I think, they are lined with fine, dark-colored earth voided by the
worm, so that at first they must be made a little wider than their
ultimate diameter. Little globular pellets of voided earth, still soft and
viscid, often dot the walls of fresh burrows, and these are spread out
on all sides by the worm as it travels up or down its burrow, the
lining thus formed becoming very compact and smooth when nearly
dry and closely fitting the worm’s body. Excellent points of support
are thus afforded for the minute reflexed bristles which project in
rows on all sides from the body, thus rendering the burrow well
adapted for the rapid movement of the animal. The lining appears
also to strengthen the walls, and perhaps saves the worm’s body
from being scratched, which would assuredly be the case when the
burrows, as is occasionally observed, pass through a layer of sifted
coal cinders. The burrows are thus seen to be not mere excavations,
but may be compared with tunnels lined with cement. Those which
run far down into the ground generally, or at least frequently,
terminate in little chambers, where one or several worms pass the
winter rolled up into a ball. Small pebbles and seeds as large as
grains of mustard are carried down from the surface by being
swallowed or within the mouths of worms, as well as bits of glass
and tile, whose only use in their winter-quarters seems to be the
prevention of their closely coiled-up bodies from coming into
contiguity with the surrounding cold soil, for such contact would
perhaps interfere with their respiration, which is effected by the skin
alone.
After swallowing earth, whether for making its burrow or for food,
the earth-worm soon comes to the surface to empty its body. The
rejected matter is thoroughly mixed with the intestinal secretions,
and is thus rendered viscid. After becoming dried, it sets hard. When
in a very liquid state the earth is thrown out in little spurts, and
when not so liquid by a slow peristaltic movement of the intestine. It
is not cast indifferently on any side, but first on one and then on
another, the tail being used almost like a trowel. The little heap
being formed the worm seemingly avoids, for the sake of safety, the
use of its tail, the earthy matter being forced up through the
previously deposited soft mass. The mouth of the same burrow is
used for this purpose for a considerable time. When a worm comes
to the surface to eject earth, the tail protrudes, but when it collects
leaves its head must protrude, and thus worms must have the power
of performing the difficult feat, as it seems to us, of turning round in
their closely-fitting burrows. Worms do not always eject their
castings upon the surface of the ground, for when burrowing in
newly turned-up earth, or between the stems of banked-up plants,
they deposit their castings in such places, and even hollows beneath
large stems lying on the surface of the ground are filled up with their
ejections. Old burrows collapse in time. The fine earth voided by
worms, if spread out uniformly, would form in many places a layer of
one-fifth of an inch in thickness. But this large amount is not
deposited within the old unused burrows. If the burrows did not
collapse, the whole ground would be first thickly riddled with holes
to the depth of ten inches or more, which in fifty years would grow
into a hollow, unsupported place ten inches deep.
Hardly any animal is more universally distributed than worms. The
earth-worm is found in all parts of the world, and some of the
genera have an enormous range. They inhabit the most isolated
islands, abounding in Iceland, and also being known to exist in the
West Indies, St. Helena, Madagascar, New Caledonia and Tahiti.
Worms from Kergulen Land in the Antarctic regions have been
described by Ray Lankester, and Darwin has reported them as being
found in the Falkland Islands. How they reach such isolated islands
is quite unknown. They are easily killed by salt water, and it does not
seem likely that young worms or their egg-capsules could be carried
in earth adhering to the feet or beaks of land-birds, especially to
Kergulen Land, for it is not now inhabited by any terrestrial bird.
We have seen that worms are found in nearly every part of the
globe, that they are very numerous, as many as 348,480 having
been found in an acre of rich ground in New Zealand, and that by
the peculiar economy of their nature they are fitted to accomplish a
great deal of good in the earth. They have played a more important
part in the history of the world than most persons would at first
suppose. In many parts of England, according to Darwin, a weight of
more than ten tons of dry earth annually passes through their bodies
and is brought to the surface in each acre of land, so that the entire
superficial bed of vegetable mould passes through their bodies in the
course of every few years; and in most parts of the forests and
pasture-lands of Southern Brazil, where several species of earth-
worms abound, the whole soil to a depth of a quarter of a metre
looks as though it had passed through the intestines of worms, even
where scarcely any castings are to be observed upon the surface.
The upper crust is continually being eaten and ejected by them, thus
aiding the fertility of the soil, as well as conveying water and air to
the interior by the myriads of burrows which they drill. The vast
quantities of leaves that they drag into their holes tend also to
enrich the ground. Nor does their good end here. They cover up
seeds, undermine rocks, burying them up, and to their labors is due
the preservation of many ruins and ancient works of art. Numerous
old-time Roman villas have been discovered beneath the ground in
England, whose entombments were undoubtedly caused by the
worms that undermined them and deposited their castings upon the
floors, till finally, aided by other causes, they disappeared from sight.
When a wide, turf-covered expanse of earth is beheld, we would
do well to remember that its smoothness, upon which so much of its
beauty depends, is largely due to all the inequalities having been
slowly levelled by worms. That all the surface-mould of any such
expanse has passed, and will again pass, every few years through
the bodies of worms is a marvellous reflection, and one which should
not be lightly dismissed from the mind. The most ancient, as well as
one of the most valuable of man’s inventions, is the plough. But long
before man existed the land was in fact regularly ploughed, and still
continues to be ploughed, by earth-worms. No other animal has
played such a part in history as have these lowly-organized
creatures. True it is that corals, which are still lower in the scale of
animals, have performed more conspicuous work in the innumerable
reefs and islands they have built in the great oceans, but their work
is confined to the tropical zones, while that of the earth-worm is
well-nigh universal. Verily it is by the little things in life that the
Creator has erected the most stupendous monuments to show forth
His infinite power and wisdom.
 FIDDLER- AND HERMIT-CRABS.

A
mong our first acquaintances of the sea-shore are sure to be a
number of merry little sprites which do not seem to have yet
mastered the lesson of walking straight ahead. Their
movements will be seen to be in a direction at right angles to that
towards which the head points. It is a very interesting sight to watch
these apparently one-sided creatures hurrying off in their lateral
progression towards their burrows in the sand or mud, or in quest of
food. Pass them, and you will be surprised to see how quickly some
of them will reverse their motion, seemingly without so much as
pausing to glance at their pursuer, their machinery appearing to
have given out at one end, thus compelling them to reverse and
travel back over their old courses.
These little Fiddler- or Calling-crabs, as they are termed, are the
most pronounced offenders against the commonly accepted rule of
proper walking. Scattered all over the salt marshes and mud-flats, at
about high-water mark, may be noted their burrows, which are
about as large as a thrust made by an umbrella point, and from
which can be frequently seen the little animal peeping forth,
preparatory to making a sally. At another part of the flat, where the
noise of your footsteps has not given signals of danger, hundreds of
crabblings are busy with their out-door occupations. Draw near to
them, and away they scamper to their dwellings, males and females
intermingled promiscuously, the former recognizable by the undue
development of one of the claws, which is carried transversely in
front of the head. When the animal is provoked, this claw is
brandished in a somewhat menacing manner, which has been
likened by some to the pulling of a violin bow, and by others to the
action of beckoning or calling, and hence the names which have
been applied to these eccentric creatures.
 Have you a desire for a more intimate knowledge of the animal,
take him up by the big claw, and you can now examine him without
the least fear of incurring the proofs of his displeasure. Two bead-
like, compound eyes, supported on long stalks, which can be readily
withdrawn into the protecting shield of the carapace, will be
observed. From the manner of this support, which allows of vision in
almost every direction, the name of stalk-eyed crustaceans has been
given to the group in which this structure is found. The two pairs of
feelers, which you see in front of the eyes, are known as antennæ
and antennules. They are of peculiar interest, for, aside from acting
as feelers, they subserve the functions of smelling and hearing, the
auditory apparatus being lodged in the base of the smaller pair.
There are ten feet, and this is a character of importance, as it is a
feature distinctive of the ten-footed, or decapod, crustaceans. At
first sight it appears that the animal is devoid of a tail, but if you
turn him over upon his back you will find a very short one tucked
safely under the body. A comparison of our study of this crab with
that of the lobster or cray-fish will show that the tail, or, more
properly, the abdomen, is stretched out beyond the body proper, and
that the elongation is in proportion to the length of the animal. Two
distinct groups of ten-legged, stalk-eyed crustaceans are thus
recognized, namely: the short-tailed forms, or crabs, and the
opposite, or long-tailed forms, to which the lobster and shrimp
belong, the hermit-crabs constituting an intermediate type.
Two species of the Fiddler, considerably resembling each other in
color and ornamentation, are to be found upon our Atlantic Coast.
The more common form, Gelasimus vocator, has a smooth, shining
carapace, while that of Gelasimus minax is finely granulated and in
part tuberculated, the back of both appearing impressed with a
figure very similar to the letter H. The latter, which appears to be a
vegetable feeder, is the larger, its burrows not infrequently
measuring one and a half inches in diameter. Estuarine regions, in
close proximity to fresh water, rather than the tidal flats, are its
habitat, and, in truth, it seems to be able to get along for weeks,
and even months, without any absolute need of salt water.
 FIDDLER-CRABS.
Two Males Fighting for a Female.

In the excavation of their homes the Fiddlers throw up the pellets

of moist earth by means of their anterior walking legs, depositing
their burden usually at some little distance from the mouth of the
burrow. As winter approaches, the domiciliary apertures are closed
up, and the famine of winter is spent in a state of torpidity.
With the advent of spring they come forth from their brumal
retreats, and soon concern themselves with the duties incident to
the propagation of their kind. Two males are often observed
contending in the fiercest manner for the possession of a female.
They strike with the formidable claw most powerful blows, and I
have often seen an opponent so completely claw-locked as to be
unutterly unable to make any determined resistance. These contests
last a long while, and finally conclude with the complete
vanquishment of one or the other of the fighting parties, one or both
sustaining at times some severe injury as the loss of an eye-
peduncle or the joint of a limb. All the while the battle is waging, the
female is a silent, passive spectator, and generally allies herself with
the successful competitor for her affections. Even during the summer
season, when the cares of brood-raising no longer command and
enslave the attention of the female, these combats are still indulged
in by the males, growing out of, as it would seem, the lingering
smarts of old animosities festering in the memory. While these
carcinological lords of the sea-side are eminently fitted for the
sparring business, the whole physiognomy of their smaller, weaker
partners bespeaks a life in which broils can have no part, a life
devoted to peaceful and domestic pursuits.
Differing widely in structure and habits from the Calling-crabs, and
affecting watery situations near the shore, are to be found the
Hermit-crabs. These sprightly little animals, which are usually of
small size, and have truly habits of their own, that stamp them at
once as being original and distinctive, are a source of never-failing
delight to the student of nature. They derive their name, as is well
known, from the seclusion into which they cast themselves as the
inhabitants of the shells of other animals, but it is probably not
generally known, however, that the rights of tenantry are oftentimes
exercised in the most arbitrary manner. Not always satisfied with a
dead shell, the Hermit-crab has been seen to raid upon a living
possessor and attempt to drag him from his home, in which
operation the assailant is often assisted by a number of his fellows,
each bearing with him his castle as defensive armor. True, the attack
is probably made in many instances for the purpose of getting
possession of the enemy as well as his belongings, and, however
this may be, forcible possession is by them considered no
misdemeanor.
The body of the Hermit-crab, in the greater number of species, is
unprovided with a carapace, and, being soft and liable to injury, the
animal is compelled to seek shelter usually in a snail-shell, winding
himself about the coils, to the inner extremity of which he attaches
himself by his modified posterior feet. So securely is he now
intrenched that it is only with difficulty he can be withdrawn,
retracting himself as he does further and further within cover of the
shell. A sudden fracture of the apex of the shell, under which
appears to be the most delicate part of the animal’s body, will
generally effect a speedy dislodgment, the frightened Crab dropping
from the aperture.
With his progressive development in size the Hermit requires
frequent changes of abode. His methods in securing a new
habitation are among the most interesting of his life. He is very
circumspect in his movements, and will make several
reconnoissances before he is fully satisfied with the conditions of his
prospective home, retiring after each visit to the old shell.
 Copyright 1900 by A. R. Dugmore.

CRAB WAITING FOR FOOD UNDER A ROCK.

From a photograph taken through water.

Like many bipeds, he has his first of May, and so he goes house-
hunting. He finds a shell. Will it do? He examines it within, feelingly
if not courteously, to see whether it is to let. Satisfied on this point,
he turns it over, then turns it round, to know if it will suit, the weight
of the house being quite an item in the reckoning to one who is to
carry it upon his back. All things being right, his mind is made up to
move, and quickly, too, at that, lest he miss his chance through
some more active fellow house-hunter who is on the alert. Out
comes the body from the old house, and pop it goes into the new.
The resolution to move, the surrender of the old house, and the
occupancy of the new, were all effected within a fraction of a second
of time.
 WARTY HERMIT-CRABS.
One at Home, the Other House-Hunting.

But the matter does not always go on pleasantly. Two house-

hunters may find the same tenement. Should they both desire it,
then comes the tug of war. Dwell together they neither can nor will.
Recourse is had to battle, in which the stronger proves his claim
right by the rule of might. In these encounters terrible mutilations
quite often occur.
As an offset to all this bad feeling and bloodshed, it is a sad sight
to see the little Hermit when his time comes to die. However droll
his career may have been, he is now very grave, for he knows he
must part with life and all its joys and pleasures. Who can explain
the strange fact? The poor little fellow comes out of his house to die.
Yes, to die. To us humans home is the only fit place to die in, but to
Eupagurus it has no attractions at this solemn time. Poor fellow!
With a sad look and a melancholy movement he quits of his own will
the house for which he fought so well. Those feelers that often
stood out so provokingly, and that were quite as often poked into
everybody’s business, now lie prone and harmless; the eyes have
lost their pertness, and dead, stone dead, the houseless Hermit lies
upon that moss-covered rock.
There are two species of Hermit-crab occurring on our coast,
which are readily distinguishable from each other by their size and
the difference in the shape of the big claw. Eupagurus pollicaris, the
Warty Hermit, is the larger species. He inhabits the shells of the big
Naticas and the Fulgurs, and can be easily recognized by his coarse,
broad claws, which close up in great part the aperture of the shell
which he occupies. In the more common form, Eupagurus
longicarpus, which seldom attains a length exceeding an inch, the
legs are all much elongated, giving the animal a very slender
appearance.
 FUNNEL-WEB BUILDER.

S
imple nests and tubes are all the majority of spiders construct
for their homes. The larger and better known webs for catching
insects are made by comparatively few species. He who is astir
in the grass-fields on damp summer mornings, will everywhere see
innumerous flat webs, from an inch or two to a foot in diameter,
which weather-wise folks consider prognostic of a fair day. These
webs may always be found upon the grass at the proper season, but
only become visible from a distance when the dew is upon them,
making the earth appear as covered by an almost continuous carpet
of silk.
By far the greater number of these nests is of the form which is
termed funnel-webs, which consist of a concave sheet of silk,
constituted of strong threads, crossed by finer ones, which the
author spins with the long hind-spinnerets, swinging them from side
to side, and laying down a band of threads at each stroke, the many
hundred threads extending in all directions to the supporting spears
of grass. The web is so close and tight that the footsteps of the
spider can be distinctly heard by the attentive, listening ear as she
runs hither and thither over its scarcely bending surface. At one side
of the web is a tube, leading down among the grass-stems, which
serves as a hiding-place for the owner of the web. Here, at the top,
and just out of sight, the spider ordinarily stands, waiting for
something to light upon the web, when she eagerly rushes out,
seizing the prey unluckily caught and carrying it into her tube to eat.
If too formidable an insect comes upon the web, she turns herself
round, beating a precipitate retreat out of the lower end of her
funnel and soon is lost beneath the mesh of enveloping and
interlacing grasses.
Where favorably located, these webs remain through the entire
season, and are enlarged, as the spider grows, by additions on the
outer edges, and are supported by threads running up into the
neighboring plants. Sometimes the webs are built in close proximity
to a stone partially imbedded in the earth, the bottom of the funnel
opening slightly underneath the stone, which secures to the spider a
convenient harbor in case of threatening danger.
Agalenidæ, as our funnel-web weavers are called, are long-
legged, brown spiders, in which the head part of the cephalo-thorax
is higher than the thoracic part, and distinctly separated from it by
grooves or marks at the sides. The eyes are usually in two rows, but
in Agalena the middle eyes of both rows are much higher than the
others. The feet have three claws, and the posterior pairs of
spinnerets are two-jointed and usually longer than the others.
Agalena nævia, the technical name of our Common Grass Spider,
abounds in all parts of the United States, but its very commonness is
the principal reason why it is so little known except by the trained
naturalist, its very familiarity leading the average man and woman to
look upon it with contempt.
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