From James Niven to Francis Darwin 12 March 1882
Nellcot Villa | Queens Road | Albert Park | Didsbury | Manchester
March 12/82
Dear Sir
In reading your father’s wonderful book on Worms, I was very much struck with the account of the intelligence shown by worms. You will remember the part where the worms block their burrows with double spines of fir, dragging them in by the part where the two leaves join and persist in doing so after the tips have been fastened together.1
In the species most common about here the spines are rough on one side
when rubbed from tip to the junction of the two, comparatively smooth when rubbed from the junction to the tip. Whether this is so generally or not I dont know, but with these spines the tactile sensibility of worms; and their experience in locomotion might determine the choice to some extent. This is scarcely worth mentioning and I have little doubt it has been noticed and considered insufficient. However I thought that on the new principle of de minimis lex curat2 I shd mention it to you
Yours truly | J. Niven
Footnotes
Bibliography
Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.
Summary
Sends [for CD’s possible use] his observations on spines of fir used by worms to block burrows.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13726
- From
- James Niven
- To
- Francis Darwin
- Sent from
- Manchester
- Source of text
- DAR 64.2: 101–2
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13726,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13726.xml