The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-12

Chicago Tribune.
 Up in the North Seas there is a whaler on a special mission. It has other pur- poses in being there, but its extraordinary commission is to catch the Arctic flea. The name of the whaler Is the Forget Me-Not If 1t gets the fieas and they get loose, it is probable its sailors never will The boat has been reported at Sydney Cape Breton.
 When the fleas ave been caught they will be added to a collection which al- ready numbers 10000. It is In the pos- session of Charles Rothschild of Tring Park, London, and he has intrusted the captain of the Forget -Me-Not to bring back the arctic 1eas.
 The fieas are to be obtained from the blue fox, the polar bear. the Eskimo dog, and other arctic animals Hunting the arctic flea may not appear at first thought to be an occupation worthy of a sports man, but when it is considered that hunt ing the arctic flea means hunting the anil nal on which it is to be found, it seems a little more dignified.
 The captain of the Forget-Me-Not may find some new method of getting the flea, but 1t is probable that the specimen of the insect which Is obtained from the po- lar bear will be secured from a dead bear. However much the bear may be willing to have fthe flea removed, it is likely that the captain will find 1t conven- tent to kill him first and remove the fiea afterwards.
 Pleas from Many Quarters.
 Already in the museum at Tring Park MT. Rothschild has fieas collected from nearly every quarter of the globe. They are of all sizes and all kinds As every animal has its particular fiet, the possi- ble numbers to which this collection can mount are readily appreciated. When Mir. Rothschald. or Dr. Jordan, who is in charge of the museum, hears of a trader or an expedition being about to start for a journey to some distanct land he com missions one of the party to bring him back f1eas from all the animals found in the journey.
 It is explained by Dr. Jordan that every animal and every bird las a particular kind of flea, and that many are blessed with a variety. The cat flea is different from the dog flea. And the dog flea from the sparrow flea. And all the different from the human flea. For this reason, 1t Is asserted that the collection of fieas offers wider diversion than the collection of any other living animals.
 In addition to the great variety which can be obtained in the collection. the hab- It's and characteristics of the individual flea make him an interesting subject for a museum. Mir. Rothschild prefers him dead and packed away in vial of chlo- roform. In that shape falf the interest wkich centers in a flea is lost.
 Measuring a Flea's Jump.
 Aristophanes once wanted to make fun of Sccratss. He told the Greeks that So- crates was a man who would try to measure the jump of a flea. And the Greeks thought the joke was on Socrates. Afterwards, some time after the Greeks had their laugh and were gathered to their fathers, some one did measure the jump of a flea and found that the small six-legged insect could project himself just 200 times his own length. without the aid of wings. just by the action Is his muscular legs.
 It was as If a man were to jump from a standing position and land 333 yards from his starting point When that was learn ed. the joke seemed to be on Aristo- planes, but they were all dead by that time so it did not matter. In doing the tremendous jump the flea does not have to make preparations or get running start Whenever danger threatens he simply shoots out his six legs and putt 200 times his length between him and danger.
 Patient men have taken advantage of the large amount of intelligence possessed by the flea and have trained squads oi them to go through performances which