The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-12
A Flea Hunter.

, appear amazing when viewed through a microscope.
 Spectators have seen the trained flea go through all kinds of maneuvers. drawing carriages and cannon. Grill in company
 formation, and even fire volleys rom
 Lillir utian artillery without stirring from their posts.
 Their Enormous Strength. In addition to the great jumping ability of the flea he has great strength. He can draw 360 times his weight over the poiish- , ed surface of a piece of glass. When these qualities are understood one begins to admire the abilities once possessed by the 10000 Heats which MT. | Rothschild has in vials of chloroform One characteristic highly developed In | the flea is love of home. It has been | found that the flea prefers to live on the animal on which it was born. Unless vio- | lently elected 1t will not levae its home. and If elected, it has preference for similar animal if 1t can be found. The preference for one kind of animal has | produced thousands of varieties and has | enabled MT. Rothschild to make his won- l derful collection. te3 The insects are extremely discriminate ing, and if they jump inadvertently into | foreign quarters they take the earliest opportunity which presents itself for re- turning to their n itive home. Colonies of fieas are to be met in hot weather living on bare sand. If an un- fortunate worm or caterpillar passes | through their domain it Is immediately bounced upon and made to pay toll In Its blood. The sharp suctcral peaks pos sessed by the flea are used first to wound and then to draw blood from the vic- | tim.
 Burrow in the Flesh. Even in the arctic fleas which the For
 ses-Me-Not is to capture should break loose, the crow can offer thanks for the fact that they are not the species to be found in the West Indies and South America. This flea IS not content with
 mel ely sucking the blood of the victom,
 but the female buries herself between the skin and the flesh. generally of the i foot end under the nails of the toes. Once made comfortable, the flea begins | to grow, and soon has reached the com- | paratively enormous size of pea IT | not extracted, she lays her eggs, which | soon hatch out in a colony of fieas. The natives of these regions are adept at ex- | tracting the flea, which otherwise would produce a dangerous ulcer, which some- times is incurable. There is record of cases where amputations have been nec- | ess&ry on this account.
 Parliamentary wings are carried by the | flea, but the great jumping power which | 1t possesses has rendered the possession of the wings useless, and they have not grown beyond two tiny scales which are | revealed under the microscope on either
 side of the hody. It may be that at one
 time these wings were good sized and used to a large extent, and that as the flea developed It's jumping ability the use | for the wings gradually disappeared, and when there was no longer any occasion fer ttem they ceased to be.
 To Keep Them Away.
 There s ar old recipe which should | have been given to the crew of the For
 get -Me-Not when they started out after | the arctic flea. It Is said to reveal sure | preventive, as follows:
 'rWh,le wormw ood hath seed, get hand | ful or twaine,
 To save against March, to make flea tc
 Where chamber is sweeped and worm | wood Is strown
 No flea for his life dare abide to b' II known"
 The largest specimea in the collection of MT. Rothschild Is that of mole flea l which Is one-fifth of an inch in length He rejoices In the name of hypstrichop | sylla talpae. Another in the collection ii a flea which has claws like lobster | This Is found on 8 small South American | bird.