EARWIG

earwig, an insect belonging to the _forficulidae_, a family usually referred to the orthoptera, but sometimes regarded as typifying a special order, to which the names dermaptera, dermatoptera and euplexoptera have been given, in allusion to certain peculiarities in the structure of the wings in the species that possess them. the front wings are short and horny and when at rest meet without overlapping in the middle line, like the wing-cases of brachelytrous (cocktail) beetles. the hind wings, on the contrary, are for the most part membranous and, when extended, of large size; each consists of two portions, the distal of which, in virtue of the arrangement and jointing of its nervures, is capable of being both doubled up and folded fanwise beneath the proximal, which is partly horny when the wing is tucked away under the front wing-case of the same side. apart from these characteristics, the most distinctive feature of earwigs is the presence at the end of the abdomen of a pair of pincers which are in reality modified appendages, known as cercopods, and represent the similar limbs of _japyx_ and the caudal feelers of _campodea_ and some other insects. the _forficulidae_ are almost cosmopolitan; but the various species and genera differ from each other both in structure and size to a comparatively slight extent. the length and armature of the pincers and the presence or absence of wings are perhaps the most important features used by systematists in distinguishing the various kinds. of particular zoological interest in this connexion is a ceylonese genus _dyscritina_, in which the cercopods are long, many-jointed and filiform during the early stages of growth, and only assume at the last moult the forcipate structure characteristic of the family. the best known earwig is the common european species, _forficula auricularia_. this insect is gregarious and nocturnal. it hides by day under stones or the loosened bark of trees or in any crevice or hole sheltered from the light. at night it crawls about in search of food, which consists to a small extent of dead animal or vegetable matter, but principally, as gardeners are aware, of the petals and other parts of flowers of growing shoots and soft ripe fruit. during the winter earwigs lie dormant; but in the early months of the year females with their eggs may be found in the soil, frequently in deserted earthworm burrows. maternal instincts are well developed, both the eggs, which number about fifty, and the young being carefully brooded and watched over by the parent. except for the absence of wings, the young are miniature models of the adult. as growth proceeds the integument is periodically cast; and at the final moult the perfect winged insect appears. males and females are like each other in size, but may be distinguished by the difference in the number of visible abdominal segments, the male having nine and the female seven. in the male, moreover, the pincers are caliper-like and toothed at the base, whereas in the female they are untoothed and only lightly curved at the tip. these differences suggest that the pincers aid in the pairing of the sexes. however that may be, they are known to be used in the folding of the wings; and their importance as weapons of defence is attested by the precision and effect with which they are wielded against assailants like ants. (r. i. p.) easement (fr. _aise_; o. fr. _aisement_; anglo-lat. _aisiamentum_, a privilege or convenience), in english law, a species of "servitude" or limited right of use over land belonging to another. it is distinguished from _profits a prendre_--another species of servitude which involves a right to participate in the profits of the soil of another--since an easement confers merely a convenience (_aisiamentum_) to be exercised over the land of another (without any participation in the profits of it), i.e. a right to use the soil or produce of the soil in a way tending to the more convenient enjoyment of another piece of land. thus a right of way is an easement, a right of common is a profit. an easement is distinguishable also from a licence, which, unless it is coupled with a grant, is personal to both grantor and grantee and is neither binding on the licensor, nor, in general, assignable by the licensee; while both the benefit and the burden of an easement are annexed to land (gale on _easements_, 8th ed. p. 2). with easements are sometimes classed certain closely allied "natural rights," such as a landowner's right to lateral support for his soil in its natural state, and a riparian owner's right to the natural flow of a stream. the essential features of an easement, in the strict sense of the term, are therefore these: (i.) it is an incorporeal right; a right to the use and enjoyment of land--not to the land itself; (ii.) it is imposed upon corporeal property; (iii.) it is a right without profit; (iv.) it requires for its constitution two distinct tenements--the "dominant tenement" which enjoys the right, and the "servient tenement" which submits to it. this last characteristic excludes from the category of easements the so-called "easements _in gross_," such as a right of way conferred by grant independently of the possession of any tenement by the grantee. the true easement is an "appendant" or "appurtenant" right, not a "right in gross." further classifications of easements must be noted. they are divided into (a) _affirmative_ or _positive_, those which authorize the commission of an act by the dominant owner, e.g. rights of way, a right to draw water from a spring, rights of aqueduct, and _negative_, when the easement restricts the rights of the servient owner over his own property, e.g. prevents him from building on land so as to obstruct ancient lights (cf. also the right to the support of neighbouring soil); (b) _continuous_, of which the enjoyment may be continual without the interference of man, e.g. access to light, and _discontinuous_, where there must be a fresh act on each occasion of the exercise of the right, e.g. a right of way, or right to draw water; (c) _apparent_, where there are visible external signs of the exercise of the right, e.g. a right to dam up a watercourse, and _non-apparent_, where such signs are absent, e.g. a right to lateral support from land, a prohibition to build above a certain height. _acquisition of easements._--easements may be acquired (a) by express grant, either by statute, or by deed _inter vivos_, or by will; (b) by an implied grant; (c) by express or implied reservation, e.g. by the owner of land in selling the fee (as to implied reservation, see gale on _easements_, 8th ed. pp. 137 et seq.); (d) by prescription, either at common law or under the prescription act 1832. an express grant, or express reservation, of an easement cannot be effected except by deed. an easement arises by implied grant where a man makes one part of his tenement dependent on another, or makes the parts mutually interdependent, and grants any such part with the dependence attaching to it to another person (innes, _law of easements_, 7th ed. p. 10). for example, a man builds two houses, each of which by the plan of construction receives support from the other; this mutual right of support is a _quasi_-easement, of which on severance of the tenements the grantee of one will have the benefit; where the enjoyment of the severed tenement could not be had at all without such a right, it is said to be an "easement of necessity." easements are acquired by prescription at common law by proof of "immemorial user" by the dominant owner and those through whom he claims. at one time it was thought that such proof must date back to the first year (1189) of richard i. (see preamble to prescription act 1832). the ground, however, on which prescription was admitted as a means of acquiring easements was the fiction of a "lost grant." long enjoyment of the right pointed to its having had a legal origin in a grant from the servient owner, and so any period of reasonably long use came to be accepted. a "lost grant" may be presumed to have been made (the question is one of fact) if 20 years' uninterrupted enjoyment is shown. to avoid the difficulties of proof of prescriptive right at common law, the prescription act 1832 established shorter periods of user. in the case of easements, other than light, the periods of prescription are 20 years for a claim that may be defeated, and 40 years for an indefeasible claim (s. 2). the right of access of light is dealt with under s. 3 (see ancient lights). the enjoyment to become prescriptive must be open, i.e. of such a character that the owner of the tenement said to be servient has a reasonable opportunity of becoming aware of the adverse claim (_union lighterage co._ v. _london graving dock co._, 1902, 2 ch. 557); and it must be enjoyed as of right (_gardner_ v. _hodgson's kingston brewery co._, 1903, a.c. 229) as against the owner of the tenement affected (_kilgour_ v. _gaddes_, 1904, 1 k.b. 457). the periods of prescription are to be reckoned backwards from the time when some suit or matter involving the claim of the dominant owner has arisen (s. 4). nothing is to be deemed an interruption unless the act of interruption has been submitted to, or acquiesced in, for a year (s. 4). easements may be extinguished (i.) by express release--here an instrument under seal is necessary; (ii.) by "merger," i.e. where both tenements become the property of the same owner; (iii.) by abandonment through non-user. in the case of discontinuous easements, the shortest period of non-user may suffice if there is direct evidence of an intention to abandon. a word may be added here as to the right to air. it is an actionable nuisance to cause pollution of the air entering a dwelling-house. the owner of a dwelling-house may by prescription acquire a right to the passage of air through it by a defined channel; and the enjoyment without interruption of ventilation by means of air flowing in a definite channel, with the knowledge of the owner and occupier of the adjoining premises, creates a presumption of the grant of such an easement (see gale on _easements_, 8th ed. p. 338). in _scots law_ the term "easement" is unknown. both the name "servitude" and the main species of servitudes existing in roman law (q.v.) have been adopted. the classification of servitudes into positive and negative, &c., and the modes of their creation and extinction, are similar to those of english law. the statutory period of prescription is 40 years (scots acts 1617, c. 12), or 20 years in the case of enjoyment under any _ex facie_ valid irredeemable title duly recorded in the appropriate register of sasines (conveyancing [scotland] act 1874). there are certain servitudes special to scots law, e.g. "thirlage," by which lands are "thirled" or bound to a particular mill, and the possessors obliged to grind their grain there, for payment of certain _multures_ (quantities of grain or meal, payable to the mill-owner) and _sequels_ (small quantities given to the mill servants) as the customary price of grinding. statutory provision has been made for the commutation of these duties (thirlage act 1799), and they have now almost disappeared. the french code civil (arts. 637 et seq.) and the other european codes (e.g. belgium, arts. 637 et seq.; holland, arts. 721 et seq.; italy, arts. 531 et seq.; spain, arts. 530 et seq.; germany, arts. 1018 et seq.) closely follow roman law. french law is in force in mauritius, and has been followed in quebec (civil code, arts. 499 et seq.) and st lucia (civil code, arts. 449 et seq.). in india the law is regulated, on english lines, by the easements act 1882 (act v. of 1882). the term "easements," however, in india includes _profits a prendre_. in the south african colonies the law of easements is based on the roman dutch law (see maasdorp, _institutes of cape law_, 1904; bk. ii. p. 166 et seq.). in most of the other colonies the law of easements is similar to english law. in some, however, it has been provided by statute that rights to the access and use of light or water cannot be acquired by prescription: e.g. victoria (water act 1890, no. 1156, s. 3), ontario (real property limitation act, revised stats. ontario, 1897; c. 133, s. 36, light). in the _united states_ the law of easements is founded upon, and substantially identical with, english law. the english doctrine, however, as to acquisition of right of light and air by prescription is not accepted in most of the states. authorities.--_english law_: gale, _law of easements_ (8th ed., london, 1908); goddard, _law of easements_ (6th ed., london, 1904); innes, _digest of the law of easements_ (7th ed., london, 1903). _indian law_: peacock, _easements in british india_ (calcutta, 1904); hudson and inman, _law of light and air_ (2nd ed., london, 1905). _scots law_: erskine, _principles of the law of scotland_ (20th ed., edinburgh, 1903). _american law_: jones, _law of easements_ (new york, 1898); bouvier, _law dict._ (boston and london, 1897); _ruling cases_, london and boston, 1894-1901, tit. _easement_ (american notes). (a. w. r.)