St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-07-07
A WONDERFUL CREATURE.
The Flea-His Habits, Capabili-
ties, and Personal Qualities.

The FIea-His Habits, Capabili-
ties, and Personal Qualities.
Swiss Cross
Let us put onr flea under the micro
scope. 1t seems to be clothed i'm a sort
of armor formed of brown, overlapping
plates that are so exceedingly tough as
to be almost indestructible. Its head is
small and thin, and it has single eye
upon each side. This eye is black, and
the rays of light scintillate within it like
sparks of fire. Puget managed to look
through one of these eyes, and he found
that it diminished objects in size,
while it multiplied them in
number-a man appearing like
an army of fairies, and the flame of the
candle becoming a thousand tiny stars.
From the shape of its head, and for
other reasons, the flea is supposed to use
only one eye at time. The offensive
weapon of the flea is composed of two
palpi, or feelerS, two piercerS and a
tongue. When it feeds its stands erect,
rhrusting this sucker into the flesh; and
it will eat without intermissiOn until
disturbed. for it vOids as fast as it
swallows its food. 1t is interesting to
put several in glass, and, giving them
piece of raw meat, see them all stand
ing on their hind legs to suck up its
juices.
Their manner of breathing is still I'M
determined, but it is though most proba-
BILE that they receive air into their
bodies through small holes at the end of
the palpi.
The legs of a flea are marvels of
strength and elasticity. They are
joined to the body by long tendons that
act like wire springs. In making its
leap, which, it is said, can cover 200
times its own length, the flea draws the
leg up close to the body and then
throws it out with great force; but the
impulse proceeds from the first Joint
alone, the others only increasing it by
their stretch while the leap is being
made.
Fleas are possessed of great strength.
Moutfet tells of a mechanic who made a
gold chain as long as his finger that
flea dragged after him, and a gold
chariot which he drew also. Bingley
writes of q matchmaker in the Strand
who had an ivory four-wheeled chaise
with coachman on its box drawn by a
flea. The same man afterward made a
carriage with six horses, coachman,
four persons inside, two footman be-
hind and position on one of the
horses, all of which was drawn by
single flea. Latriella mentions a flea
which dragged a silver cannon of
twenty-fOur times its own weight,
mounted on wheels, and showed no fear
when it was charged with gun-powder
and fired off. Rene says that he saw
that a pair drew a chariot; and that
brass cannon was dragged by a single
one.
There are several varieties of fieas,
but they are SO much alike that their
differences care interesting only to
scientific people. The cat-flea will do as
well as any to show us the process
of breeding. During the spring and sum-
mer months she simply drops her eggs
into the fur of the cat; but in the
autumn and winter she CLUES each
firmly upon hair. These eggs are so
small as TO be barely visible to the
naked eye, but under the microscope
they are beautiful, looking like the love
lucent. The flea deposits nearly 200 at
time, running about and dropping
them here and there. They soon hatch
into small white fOotleSS worms. In from
one to two weeks they go into CO.
coon. Nothing can be prettier than
this cocoon. l wish could show it to
you, but will try to describe it. 1t is
like flash OF clear glass, hinged at the
edges with pearly tints and dotted over
with gold. The little sleeper within lies
in circle, is rose-cOlOred, and looks
like the delicate petal of flower. In
about six weeks he reaches maturity.
At first he is not larger than a mite, but
when well fed grows quickly in size
and strength. Flears are quarrelsOm e
and great fighters. When several are
confined in a galSS they will stand on
their hind legs, striking at their
opponents with the others, and roll over
and over each other, losing legs and an
tenne, and at last giving up their lives
in the fight. There is a record of flea
which lived ten days after such an en-
counter with no antennte, three plates
of his side broken, one eye gone, and
with only four legs, and these cut off to
the first joints.
Fleas are supposed to feel great an
tipathy to NORWOOD and other bitter
herbs; and in England the country peO-
pie have habit of placing these about
their cottages for the purpose of Danish
iptr tho liuaIv littla nests