THE PORFIC U LI DAL 
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doing some mischief to the brain ; but really the only lives they 
ever endanger are those of the plants and pot-herbs in the garden. 
Their nippers, as they are familiarly called, and their great 
activity, appear to have given them a bad character ; but they 
earwigs. ( Forficula auricularia.) 
are much to be admired for some things, for they are amongst 
the few insects that care for their young, and an old earwig may 
often be seen acting like an old hen. 
The wings of the earwigs are well worth examining. The 
anterior wings are short, like those of the Stciphylinidce amongst 
the beetles, and they do not cross each other as those of the 
