The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-08-28
Little, But Mighty.

The flea Possesses ali the piTstioai
instincts-thirst for blood, rapaoity,
cruelty. He is, further, as ingenious
in devising tortnres as he is untiring
in the torment Of his victims.
The fec lie built upon the lines that
rnake him hungry. But his oontinu.
Gus performance appetite lie far from
being tho oldest thing about him.
Proportionately to size he is the Sam
son of the universe. If the elephant
had the relative strength he could
come near to overseeing steel-fram.
ed skysoraper.
a flea, wingless, with body out of
all proportion 20 his head, and all
over less than the sixteenth of an
inch in length, will leap upon plane
surface Iuore than yard. This, too,
when be has been hatched in hair, or
straw, or sand, and never known what
it was to have full meal. More mar
vellous still, he will spring perpendic-
ular!y upward from one to two feet.
Fancy man or boy standing Aatfoot-
ed and all of sudden leapipg over a
church spire.
Wonderful things have been done
with feas. They have been put into
gold collars aud set to drag about
lengths of gold chain at least 100
times their own weight. Further, an
ingenius goldsmith back in the leis-
urely seventeenth century made q
coach and four in ivory and gold, with
coachman on the box, position and
e.t-r;asTs. yet aii 30 tiny it was drag
sed by pair Of feas, working in gold
collars. They worked under bell
glass, and were exhibited in London
and Paris.
To fight like cats aud dogs is the
synonym of continuing strife, but even
calls and dogs do not fight so bitterly
as cat feas and dog feas. Oddly
enough, the cat feas are bigger than
the dog feas, so should be always VIC
tors. But here as elsewhere condition
tells. If the cat Aeas are lazy and
luxurious-fat they can never grow
the small. lean, keen-beaked dog fleas
kill them cut.
The combatants stand up to fight
quite like pair Of prize ring orna-
ments. AS they have six legs they
have plenty to stand on, and still
spare couple with which to belabor
each csher. Upon neutral ground, as
q floor or walk, the cat and dog Aeas
keep the peace. But let one invade
litter or q coat sacred to the other,
and there is straightway fight to a
finish. Something even more curious
than this Unborn antipathy is that dog
Aeas will not live upon cat nor cat
fieas upon dog.
Fleas lay eggs after the insect man
ner which hatch out tiny wrigglers,
very nearly invisible to the naked eye,
yet capable of feeding on moisture
and microbes-at least, one Judges
that to be the diet, since fleas breed
80 largely in sand, hair, straw and, lit
ter where other food is lacking-and
after while spinning themselves CO.
coons. The cocoons are no bigger
than tiny grains Of sand, but under
the microscope show as semitranslu-
cent ovals beautifully banded with
pink and pearl. They are formed
upon top Of the matrix, whatever it
may be, where the sun or the light
can strike them fair. Rain just at
the Matching time often kills whole
brood Of sandfeas.
A fiea's beak is sharp and hard,
something like q birds only more
pointed. A Hea bite is not poisonous,
save and except in rare cases where a
flea has previously been biting infect
ed tissue. Certain French scientists
have shown that both feas and bed
bugs could thus carry tuberoular in
fec.ion. Further, rats and rat aeas
are greatly dreaded as helping to
spread the fearful bubonic plague.
Washington Star.
Cures Contagious Blood Poison.