Page:The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881).djvu/16

 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 lex non curat," does not apply to science. Even Élie de Beaumont, who generally undervalues small agencies and their accumulated effects, remarks. "la couche très-mince de la terre végétale est un monument d'une haute antiquité, et, par le fait de sa permanence, un objet digne d'occuper le géologue, et capable de lui fournir des remarques intéressantes." Although the superficial layer of vegetable mould as a whole no doubt is of the highest antiquity, yet in regard to its permanence, we shall hereafter see reason to believe that its component particles are in most cases removed at not a very slow rate, and are replaced by others due to the disintegration of the underlying materials.

As I was led to keep in my study during many months worms in pots filled with earth,