Ronald Henry age 10, of Albany, N.Y

Do worms have eyes?

This question baffles a lot of people, especially young fishermen, You go to pick up a nice fat worm and he wriggles away, He can even dodge you after dark. Shine a flashlight as he pokes up from his burrow and back he goes,

Naturally, you expect him to own a pair of sharp eyes. Yet when you finally catch  him, where are they? The fact is, he has no eyes and needs no ears. He is a simple creature with a simple nervous system. Nerve endings reach under the skin all over his body. Some of these are sensitive to light.

They inform Mr. Pinky when a shadow falls over his path. This may mean trouble, so away he wriggles to safety, They inform him of the sudden flashlight. This surely means trouble. Mr. Pinky wriggles back home just to be on the safe side. Of course he cannot see as we do. All he can detect is the difference between lightness and dark.