MaryLou Kiley, age 9, of Waltham Mass.

Do worms come out after the rain?

Most people think that the little earthworm comes up to escape from his flooded home  Not so long ago, even the experts thought that Mr  Pinky would drown if he staged down in has burrow when the rain seeped down through the ground to fill it with water, Then one of these experts wondered if this were the truth  His wonderful curiosity led  him on to make some experiments to prove the facts, once and for all  He made some new discoveries  And now we know that little Pinky dose not care whether his underground burrow is flooded or not  He has other reasons for crawling upstairs when it rains 

The earthworm,, of course, breathes oxygen as we do, However,, he has no none and no lunge  He takes his oxygen into his body through special cells in his soft, bare skin  His akin, as you know, is always cool and clammy  This is because it is always moist and this moisture is very necessary to the worm  The special cells in his skin can take in oxygen only when it is dissolved in liquid form  If the worm's akin becomes dry, he cannot breathe and he suffocates 

In his underground burrow, the worm is surrounded by air  There is plenty of air in small underground cracks and crevices and in tiny pockets between the crumbs of soil  He is also surrounded by air when he crawls upstairs and over the ground looking for food, This air contains oxygen and so long as Pinky's skin is moist, he gets all he needs to breathe 

The frog too can take in oxygen through his moist skin  However, he has a pair of lungs which he uses when he is in the air, But when he squats under water, he takes in dissolved oxygen through his skin  When he wishes, he can also breathe through his skin in the moist air 

Now, thanks to those new experiments, we know that Mr  Pinky's skin is

just as wonderful as the skin of the frog  We too can take in oxygen dissolved from the water 

This meant that the little fellow does not come out of his burrow to escape the flood of rain water, He could not drown, for he can live under water for whole weeks at a time  Then he must have other reasons for coining out after a summer shower  They must be very good reasons indeed, For it is risky for the worm to show himself in broad daylight  His pink skin is very noticeable in the green grass or on the brown ground and his world is full of famished robins and other hungry animals who enjoy worm meat  Also, daylight, and sunshine tend to dry out his skin, which must be kept moist 

But Pinky likes warmth and dampness, for then the ground is strewn with his favorite foods  The tiny fungus plants tend to multiply and there are plenty of soft, rotting leaves  After a summer shower, the ground is warm and wet and the scorching rays of the sun are shut off by a screen of clouds  The experts think that Pinky comes out because this muggy weather suits him fins,

Other worms have the same idea and after a summer shower we may find many of them crawling around  And summer is courting time for the worms, just as it is for the birds and many other animals  Mr  Pinky may also come out hoping to meat another worm who too is tempted outdoors by the muggy weather.