74 LONDON INSECTS 



whose sleep had been disturbed one night by the 

 devouring attentions of one of the family, pleaded for 

 its life, when caught in the morning by a ruthless 

 nurserymaid: 'Would you kill God's little flea?' But 

 even with this much to be said in its favour, the Flea 

 is an unsavoury subject to write about. 



Of the other prominent division of the wingless 

 insects, one individual has immortalised himself the 

 ' ugly, creepin' wonner ' which Burns once saw in 

 church, ' struntin ower gauze and lace,' to 



' The vera tapmost, tow'rin' height 

 0' Miss's bonnet,' 



But with this solitary exception, the family, 

 ' Detested, shunn'd by saunt an' sinner,' 



is unmentionable, and, in spite even of Mosquitoes and 

 Gnats, it is a relief to pass on to the next order the 

 ' two wings.' 



Any Londoner who likes may find ample material 

 for a history of one typical family of the two wings 

 the ' Daddy Longlegs ' without any greater physical 

 exertion than an occasional stroll into any of the parks 

 in the late summer. Once there, he will not have 

 occasion to move his chair many yards. They are, 

 especially in warm sunshiny days, when there has been 

 a little ram to soften the upper soil, to be seen in 

 thousands, ladies and gentlemen, and are in many ways 

 satisfactory insects. 



To begin with, they are of a reasonable size, suffi- 

 ciently large to show, without turning one's eyes inside 



