The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1910-07-16
THE FLEA IS THE CHAMPION MURDERER
Causes More Deaths Each Year Than All
Reptiles and Beasts.

9tiLtu IOiu Oh HllH, sue tuuult5 tiHHt'
| ly in his embrace, entangling her
self in a determined manner III his
spines.
THE fea's head is armed with ar
elaborate biting apparatus which acts
both as weapon of offence and {
| means of securing food. On either
side is a large triangular anchor
which firmly grasps the skin of the
victim and enables the insect to ef
fectually insert the piercing organs.
These consist of two lances each hay
ing a sharp spear shaped head below
which is a series of saw teeth. Be
tween and above them is sharp sty.
let. In biting, all three are inserted
simultaneously, the saws working
back and forth until good opening
is made and a flow of blood is started
As a Source of Danger.
"Many Of the feas have the dis
gushing habit Of depositing their eE
creta at the same time they secure
their meal The human flea is the
worst hammered in this particular
and it is we'll established that ii is
in this way he infects his victim with
bubonic plague. Having eaten pre-
viously from a plague stricken an
imal, he has taken into himself a
very large number of pest bacteria.
These have been frequently found in
the dejecta of the flea. and may be de-
posted upon the skin of a healthy
victim who subsequently rubs the IT.
ritated parts The bacilli are thus
forced into the minute wounds made
by the flea, inoculating the victim
with disease. This is not a matter
of scientific speculation, but has been
thoroughly proved by accurate and
painstaking experiments in many
parts of the world.
THE flea is provided with six legs
arranged in three pairs, which be-
come progressively longer as you so
aft. There is nothing very remark
able about the first two pairs, but the
hind legs are the largest, longest and
most powerful in proportion to the
size and weight of the insect of any
in the entire animal kingdom. The
propulsive apparatus of the kangaroo
is, in comparison, but a pitiful imita-
ton. Provided with enormous hams
and with feet armed with claws work
ing on the principle of a cant-hook,
they are able to leap in a manner cal
culated to make the most bemedalled
track athlete green with envy.
"The American amateur indoor
standing broad jump record is Is 3
inches was made by a fair coed after
fasting four days. The running high,
7A inches, is also held by Miss Pulex
Irritans This family has representa-
tives in all of the colleges OF the Pa
cific Coast. Figuring on this basis
in proportion to weight and body
length, a man would be able to jump
over an Office building 16S stories
high, and in making such leap
would traverse over three-fifths of
mile.
Their Taste in Hucs.
Inc question OIL the luulVIuud
preference of fleas for persons has re-
ceived careful study. 1t is the popu-
lar belief that fleas prefer blondes
to brunettes and women to men, but
it has not been possible to prove this
experimentally. Certain it is that
they are equally disposed to black or
white guinea pigs and several negroes
are known whom the fleas use as a
veritable haven Cleanliness does not
seem to be bar to them; in fact,
there seems to be some reason for
the belief that they prefer clearly
persons to those to whom the bath
tub is unknown.
There is still vast amount OF
work to be done upon the interesting
flea and much time and money have
to be spent in the study of it. The
British in India and Australia, the
French in their Chinese provinces and
the Americans on the Pacific Coast
are all seeking after knowledge re-
garding this enemy to mankind, and
it may not be long before the results
achieved by these various agencies
will enable us to destroy forever this
persistent dissemination Of pestilence
and death"