The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-10-07
THE LIVELY SAND FLEA.

There is one branch OF compulsory ed
ucation in no wise dependent upon State
or National enactments. Let the flea
stand as representative of that branch.
The flea is selected because nothing will
represent more in a given area and time.
The flea is SO COMPREHENSIVE repre-
sentative that he seems to gather up in
himself about all of the lower charac-
teristics of his constituency. He has no
''fences" to look after; he always wins
against the most brazen competitor, and,
in the vast congress of Heas, he faithfully
represents all the bilge, scum and elfer-
vescent cuSSednesS of his fellow savagcs
of the highest order.
Remarkable as the statement may APP
pear, it is nevertheless true that the
sportive flea has been made pet and an
instrument of amusement by man, al
though the great mass of the people
have suspected that the sport was all on
the side of the flea. The naturalist Will
oughby made pet of a flea, and lit
orally fed him from his hand. We are
also told of cherry stone chariots with
tleas for horses; yet how grim the humor
which can turn such distressing subject
into Jest! The flea presents us not only
with skip and a stab, but paradox.
There is at once great deal and very
little known about him. Aristotle, Pliny,
LinnHus and Cuver devoted their genius
to the study of the flea, and the fruits of
their laborS are stored among the tones
of empires and republics. In the
face of all this chronological cru
dition a certain uncultured student
of nature has probably been more
quoted, his explanation declared to be
more lucid and his summing up of
the flea question more complete and ac-
curate than those of Aristotle, Pliny and
the entire army corps of German scien-
lists. In fact the latest results of the
worlds thought on the subject of tleas
are summed up in an Irishman's COM
ment: Il put me finger upon him and
he wasn't there" Among all the hum-
Der of chronological analysis is found
one bit of description from celebrated
author, which is perfectly clear and will
secure universal assent "The flea bites
all the time, day and night and is never
satisfied" With all the flea literature
of twentythree centuries before us, it is
almost impossible to elucdate the philo-
sophy of this most interesting and ubiqu-
tous companion of man. The flea is a
wonderful touchstone, and the ignorance
which he exposes is alarming. With
the immense practical knowledge which
his ''business end'' is constantly incul-
eating, it is astonishing that the general
public is so deficient in its observations
of the more scholarly side of the flea
theme. For instance, in one of the in
terviews, hereinafter alluded to, the fol-
lowing answer was made to the query:
''What do you know about fleas?" II
know all | want to; | know that they
have six legs and bite like thunder"
There appears to be ideal wave of re-
search just now upon this topic. Call
ing upon gentleman the other evening
he suddenly yanked up one of his trous-
ers legs and, after some violent and vain
gesticulations, the result of this recon-
nolsance was thus announced: Course
that flea?' In many localities the flea
plague is peculiarly annoying, and hence
information on the subject will be well
coined as timely and great boon. Some
houses are infested which were never be-
fore entered by the pests. One family Won
ders how it could have become subject
ell to the wholesale intrusion, as there
are no cats or dogs about the premises.
Here, again, proof is given of the pre-
Valllng ignorance. One party was asked
II he wasn't aware of the difference be-
tween the common flea infesting animals
and the sand flea. IA flea is flea;
don't know anything about your dis
tnctiOns." And vet this distinction has
its difference. 1t is the sand flea herein
treated of, and he has as many aliases as
an experienced jailbird. This inveter-
ate torment is known as the sand flea,
the chigo, the jigger, the chigre and the
puteS penetranS. 1t is this species which
lnvades houses, swarms beneath carpets,
hlling all upholstered furniture, threat
ening the expulsion of the entire house
hold. 1t is almost impossible to deter
mine the habits of the sand flea. The in
sect is perfect eleven days after the dep
osition of the egg. The male is much
like the common dog flea, but the female
is very different, burrowing beneath the
skin, and there depositing her eggs.
When thus buried in the flesh, the fe-
male swells to great size by the dis
tension of her eggs, and removal is not
only difficult, but dangerous. If the
body of the flea be broken while beneath