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![ABSTRACT I THINK Sir Ray Lankester (NATURE, June 2, p. 424) will agree with me that earthworms when underground must frequently or usually be in contact with other moist surfaces. My impression is that in dry weather, when the upper layers of soil contain only adsorbed water and are what we call “dry”, earthworms seek the lower layers where the particles are moist—that is, are surrounded by a surface film of liquid water, however thin this may be. When in such a moist layer the surface of the worm must at many points be obtaining its air-supply through the medium of water which is not part of itself. The air, as Sir Ray Lankester says, reaches the worm through the porous soil, and I think in part through the moisture on the surface of the particles. The statement in my letter in NATURE of May 19 can admittedly be read as implying that the worm was partly dipped in slime or mud, but this was far from my meaning. SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS CHANGES IN SOIL CARBON MINERALIZATION RELATED TO EARTHWORM ACTIVITY DEPEND ON THE TIME SINCE INOCULATION AND THEIR DENSITY IN SOIL Article Open access 10 August 2022 GLOBAL DATA ON EARTHWORM ABUNDANCE, BIOMASS, DIVERSITY AND CORRESPONDING ENVIRONMENTAL PROPERTIES Article Open access 21 May 2021 GLOBAL EARTHWORM DISTRIBUTION AND ACTIVITY WINDOWS BASED ON SOIL HYDROMECHANICAL CONSTRAINTS Article Open access 21 May 2021 ARTICLE PDF AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Teddington J. H. COSTE Authors * J. H. COSTE View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE COSTE, J. [Letters to Editor]. _Nature_ 107, 491 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107491a0 Download citation * Issue Date: 16 June 1921 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107491a0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative](https://media.springernature.com/w215h120/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41598-022-17855-z/MediaObjects/41598_2022_17855_Fig1_HTML.png)
ABSTRACT I THINK Sir Ray Lankester (NATURE, June 2, p. 424) will agree with me that earthworms when underground must frequently or usually be in contact with other moist surfaces. My
impression is that in dry weather, when the upper layers of soil contain only adsorbed water and are what we call “dry”, earthworms seek the lower layers where the particles are moist—that
is, are surrounded by a surface film of liquid water, however thin this may be. When in such a moist layer the surface of the worm must at many points be obtaining its air-supply through the
medium of water which is not part of itself. The air, as Sir Ray Lankester says, reaches the worm through the porous soil, and I think in part through the moisture on the surface of the
particles. The statement in my letter in NATURE of May 19 can admittedly be read as implying that the worm was partly dipped in slime or mud, but this was far from my meaning. SIMILAR
CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS CHANGES IN SOIL CARBON MINERALIZATION RELATED TO EARTHWORM ACTIVITY DEPEND ON THE TIME SINCE INOCULATION AND THEIR DENSITY IN SOIL Article Open access 10
August 2022 GLOBAL DATA ON EARTHWORM ABUNDANCE, BIOMASS, DIVERSITY AND CORRESPONDING ENVIRONMENTAL PROPERTIES Article Open access 21 May 2021 GLOBAL EARTHWORM DISTRIBUTION AND ACTIVITY
WINDOWS BASED ON SOIL HYDROMECHANICAL CONSTRAINTS Article Open access 21 May 2021 ARTICLE PDF AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Teddington J. H. COSTE Authors * J. H. COSTE View
author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE COSTE, J. [Letters to
Editor]. _Nature_ 107, 491 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107491a0 Download citation * Issue Date: 16 June 1921 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107491a0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share
the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer
Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative