Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-11-22
TO THE ARCTIC FOR FLEAs.

TO THE ARCTIC FOR FLEAs.
Whaling Ships Unique Mission to
The North Sea.
Up in the north seas there Is whal-
er on a special mission. 1t has other
purposes in being there but its extra
ordinary commission Is to catch the
Arctic flea. The name of the whaler Is
the Forget If 1t gets the fleas
and they get loose it is probable its
sailors never will. The boat has been
reported at Sydney, Cape Breton.
When the f1eas have been caught
they will be added to a collection which
already numbers 10000. 1t is in the
possession of Charles Rothschild, OF
Tring Park, London, and he has in
trusted the captain Of the Forget Me-
Not to bring back the Arctic fleas.
The fleas are to be obtained from the
bule fox, the polar bear, the Eskimo
dog, and other Arctic animals. Hunt
ing the Arctic flea may not appear at
first thought to be an occupation
worthy of a sportsman, but when it is
considered that hunting the Arctic flea
means hunting the animal on which 1t
is to be found 1t seems little more
dignified.
The captain Of the Forget-Me-Not
may find some new method Of getting
the flea, but it Is probable that the
specimen of the insect which Is obtain
ed from the Polar bear will be secured
from a dead bear. However, much the
bear may be willing to have the flea
removed, it Is likely that the captain
will find it convenient to kill him first
and remove the flea afterward.
Already in the museum at Tring Park
Mr.. Rothchild has f1eas collected from
nearly every quarter Of the globe.
They are Of all sizes and all kinds.
AS every animal has It's particular flea,
the possible numbers to which this COL
lection can mount are readily appre-
ciated. When Mr.. Rothschild, or DR..
Jordan, who is in charge Of the mu-
scum, hears Of trader or an expedi-
tion being about to start for journey
to some distant land he commissions
one of the party to bring him back fieas
from all the animals found in the jour-
ney.
It Is explained by DR.. Jordan that
every animal and every bird has par
ticular 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 are
different from the human flea. For this
reason it is asserted that the collec-
ton Of f1eas offers wider diversion than
the collection of any other living AMI
mails.
In addition to the great variety which
can be obtained in the collection the
habits and characteristics Of the in
dividual flea make him an interesting
subject for museum. Mr.. Rothschild
prefers him dead and packed away In
vial of chloroform. In that shape half
the interest which centres In a flea Is
lost.
Aristophanes one wanted to make
fun of Socrates. He told the Greeks
that Socrates was a man who would
try to measure the jump of flea.
And the Greeks thought the joke was
on Socrates. Afterward, some time af-
ter the Greeks had their laugh anu
were gathered to their fathers, some
one did measure the jump Of flea and
found that the small six-legged insect
could project himself just 200 times his
own length, without the aid Of wings,
lust by the action Of his muscular legs
1t was as If a man were to jump
from a standing position and land 333
Yards from his starting point. When
that was learned, the joke seemed to be
on Aristophanes; but they were all
dead by that time, so 1t 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 puts 200 times his length be-
tween him and the danger.
Patient men have taken advantage OF
the large amount Of intelligence pos
sessed by the flea and have trained
SQUADS Of them to go through perfor-
mances which appear amazing when
viewed through microscope.
Spectators have seen the trained flea
20 through all kinds Of manoeuvres,
drawing carriages and cannon, drill IN
company formation, and even fire VOL
leys from Lilliputian artillery without
stirring from their posts.
In addition to the great jumping abil-
ity of the flea he has great strength.
He can draw 800 times his weight over
the polished surface of piece of glass.
When these qualities are understood
one begins to admire the abilities once
possessed by the 10000 fleas which Mr..
Rothschild has in walls Of choroform.
One characteristic highly developed
in the flea is a love of home. 1t has
been found that the flea prefers to live
on the animal on which it was born.
Unless violently elected it will not leave
it's home, and if elected it has a pref
erence for a similar animal If it can be
found. The preference for one kind Of
animal has produced thousands of var
ieties and has enabled Mr.. Rothschild
to make his wonderful collection.
The insects are extremely discrimi-
mating, and if they jump inadvertently