1. By the use of preparations of earthworm in which the cutaneous receptors have been anesthetized with a solution of M/8 MgCl(2), it is shown that peristalsis can be initiated by tension alone. 2. The receptors of the tension reflex are the intermyal sensory cells of the ventral region of the body wall. 3. It is concluded that Straub obtained the tension reflex because his preparations contain...

Earthworms affect nitrogen cycling directly through the consumption and assimilation of organic N and the turnover of N through excretion and mortality. Although earthworms can process large quantities of organic matter, organic-matter consumption by earthworms based on their nitrogen requirements has not been quanti®ed. Organic-matter consumption and the ef®ciency of nitrogen assimilation by e...

Darwin and Metchnikoff exerted prescient influences on biology and medicine. Is this seemingly an unlikely pair to be juxtaposed and mentioned in a journal devoted to evidence-based complementary medicine? I think not. I will try and persuade you from a few viewpoints why I accord them this place. First, it seems essential that all biologists, biomedical specialists and everyone, with a general...

A review is presented summarizing the global state-of-the-art, including the gist of the studies conducted by the authors, on vermicomposting. Studies on the impact of vermicast on plant growth are also reviewed. The paper brings out the suitability or otherwise of different species of earthworms to ‘bioprocess’ different types of organic waste. The paper also presents the gist of the studies–w...

abstract soil salinity in huge parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, is a factor limiting growth of plant and other organisms. earthworm can be considered as an indicator of soil quality in agroecosystems, because of a positive correlation between earthworm abundance and the productivity of cropped plants. the main objective of this study was to realize the interaction b...