The Washington herald., 1907-08-21


ago the eminent Pasquier OF Poietiers
set the style OF poetizing on fleas-for
had not Homer written % frogs and mice
and Marc Of gnats? His example was
followed by the leading litterati Of France,
and the pUlex" was embalmed in satire,
verse, and dialogue French and Latin
were the tongues chiefly used, though
the Able Gouget chose TO shape his IN
Greek Scholars of Italy and Spain
caught UP the fad and wrote IN their
own languages many clever things on
the novel subject A scribe afterward
gathered all into a book
In India. It is said. the beggars Of the
past century made a fair competence by
sitting on the floors Of the hospitals so
the swarms of fieas could come and bite
them, thus allowing the patients a nights
rest The persistence and cunning Of the
creatures makes one almost believe in
the old legend that the devil, at one time.
appeared on earth disguised as flea
He came TO the cell where good St
Dominic sat alternately contemplating
and reading from a book. The flea
perched himself on a page. and when
] the saint saw him he bound the invader
with a spell and kept him FOR a book
mark. Whenever St Dominic paused for
| reflection he caused the hea TO sit on
the last word he had read, and remain
until he chose TO read again At night
! fall he closed the pages Of the great
tome and kept the flea imprisoned. When
! the book was at last finished the flea
was released. but since then. Il is said.
/ no member Of the flea tribe has ever
had courage 70 again attack a saint
Next TO zebras feas are the hardest OF
all members Of the animal kingdom 70
tame and train In any kind Of tricks.
The patience required TO keep track of
them. to get them acquainted with their
trainer, and TO keep them imprisoned. is
beyond that possessed by the average
human being. They are kept at hand by
having glass beads fastened to their hind
/ legs. looking for ell the world like a
band Of desperate convicts Yet when
these are removed they will usually dis
appear. A very old book Of travel tells
that century ago fleas with silver chains
on their necks were offered for sale in
Venice and Augsburg At various Euro
pean courts in the early half Of the nine
teenth century a clever trainer showed a
company Of most intelligent feas. Sore
were harnessed TO tiny silver and ivory
chaises, on which were seated passengers.
made Of jewels. and one sturdy fellow
drew a chaise twenty-four times heavier
than himself Another drew a tiny can
non. and remained at attention while the
silver toy was loaded with a mite of
powder and fired. Exhibitions Of this
kind were held in New York about 1890.
and UrOT-okOd vrlla
Sometimes there have been disasters
attending the Performance Of feas. for
as they are never happy in captivity they
make every effort TO escape. At per-
formance being given before the ruler Of
small German state, an act suddenly
failed. and when an explanation was de-
manded Of the embarrassed director he
| said that the star performer, Napoleon
had absconded in the direction Of q pretty
| princess standing near. The King asked
that the princess return Napoleon. She
retired with her maids and soon returned
with wriggling. protesting little blao.-
| flea To the distress Of the director. this
proved to be a stranger and as Napol-
con was never recovered the performance
was closed A famous English entomolo-
gist unintentiOnally broke up a dinner
party given by his wife by bringing I'm
q box Of rare Egyptian fleas for the edi-
! flcation and entertainment Of the guests.
| He thought the feas quite tame, and
opened the jeweled box to allow a better
view. Liberty looked good to the cap
tives, and they scattered in every direc-
| ton. The guests suddenly decided to
go home. The bereaved professor added
insult TO injury by requesting the guests
| TO return any Egyptian feas that might
have accompanied them home.
| While the flea is under suspicion OF be-
ing an accomplice in the spread Of certain
| tropical diseases, in the United States
| proper he has not been found to be a
purveyor Of disease 10 the unsuspeeting
public. Once, however. he came near
being a great factor in a national event.
for it is said that IL the Mexicans could
have held out a trifle longer in the war
with the United States, they would have
won, for Uncle Sans troops had about
decided they could no longer stand the
| fleas The sands Of the Southwest are
an excellent breeding ground for them,
and there they are d terror 10 man and
| beast Senator Bob Taylor. of Tennes-
| see, however. argues that in Texas they
are a vast help 10 railway contractors.
For when sand is needed for ballast on
the track, the cars are filed at the near
est bank, shunted down to the dump, and
at two blasts from the engine whistle.
this sand jumps off the car of its own
accord. The Senator solenlniy AYERS that
each grain is carried by an active and
helpful flea
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the AIR.