Darwin's wormen

Er is zoveel dat Darwin sympathiek maakt. Neem nu bijvoorbeeld Darwin's verhouding tot de eenvoudige worm:

"Darwin, charmingly, kept pots of worms in his study in order to carry out experiments on them. He tried to discover for instance whether they were sensitive to light and sound. Darwin would wander into his study and play a succession of musical instruments to the worms and observe their reactions. He records that the worms took no notice 'of the deepest and loudest notes of a bassoon', and he concludes that they are deaf. He was also found to be playing a C on the piano to ascertain if they reacted to vibrations."

Tom Hodgkinson, Brave Old World. A Practical Guide to Husbandry, or the Fine Art of Looking After Yourself, Hamish Hamilton, Londen, 2011.