Let us take a careful look at our humble friend, the earth-worm.
He is a long, round, soft, dark, slimy thing, and you say, “He is alike at both ends.”
Is he? Let us see. His body is made of from one hundred to two hundred rings. These rings are smaller toward the two ends of the body, which are the head and tail.
Like and not Like.
Each ring has on it tiny hooks, too small for you to see. These hooks take the place of the jointed feet that his cousins have. The feet on a caterpillar will show you about how these hooks would look, if you could see them.
By these hooks the worm moves along, and digs his way in the ground. Mr. Worm can hold so fast to his den or hole, that you have hard work to pull him out.
Have you seen Mr. Robin brace his feet and tug with all his might, when he pulls out a worm? The worm is holding fast by his hooks.
You see the hooks are Mr. Worm’s feet. Let us now look for his head. You have five senses. You can hear, see, feel, smell, taste. The worm can feel and taste. Some think he can smell some things. Some say that he cannot see or hear. I think that he hears, but maybe what makes him come up to look about is not hearing, but feeling a jar on the ground.
Why do we say he has a head, if he has no eyes nor ears nor nose? We say he has a head because he has a mouth and a brain.