274 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



an earwigging propensity broken down that some 

 naturalists have tried to explain the name as a; 

 corrupted form of earwing. The wing of the 

 earwig is approximately ear-shaped, and fits into 

 the explanation very well. But, unfortunately for 

 the theory, the name occurs in languages in which 

 the confusion of terms is impossible and so remote 

 in their locus that they cannot have copied one 

 another. Thus in Latin it is Auricularia, in 

 modern European languages it is Perce-oreille, 

 Ohrwurm, Oorblazer, Ormask, Oerentvist, Gusano 

 del oido, etc., while in Armenian it is a word 

 meaning ear-enterer. The inference is that some- 

 body who lived before the building of Babel had 

 an earwigging experience which is commemorated 

 in world-wide nomenclature. Possibly it was Eve. 

 No garden has ever been free from earwigs, and 

 doubtless they had their place in Eden. Eve, 

 moreover, was full of curiosity, and brought worse 

 than earwigs upon her head. If she was the 

 person who had the experience she would, as a 

 matter of course, tell Adam all about it and make 

 the most of it, and probably more than the little 

 incident was worth. He would be glad to hear 

 about it, for it is on record that he named all the 

 beasts, and he must have been hard put to to get 

 distinctive appellations for the insect hosts. 



It is worth mentioning that, though nobody has 

 ever been found who had an earwig in his ear, the 

 remedy for the emergency is ready and easily 

 applied. It is only necessary to blow tobacco 

 smoke into the cavity and the earwig will conie 

 out. The experiment may be made on a dahlia 



