Evening star., 1915-05-16
NpN.Rs BLNpEDIN TKE War

and is kept in big mahogany cabiHetss
each of which cost $500 and contains
interchangeable drawers.
A staff of curators is employed al4
the time in arranging the insects sii0
making room for new arrivals These
specimens are of all forms and sizes
and have been gathered from every
corner of the world. Every mammal
and bird is said to be cursed with q
particular kind of flea. and a lot have
several different kinds billeted on thefns
The cat flea. for instance. is dtnerens
from the dog flea, and the dog hea
from the sparrow flea, and each OF
these in turn is different from the
"Pulex irritans." the scientists pet
name for the flea which is partial to
the society of human beings.
This collection of feas is proba ably
the most complete in the world, bur
there is one flea missing. which the
new head of the Rothschild banking
house most covets and that is the flea
of the arctic fox. He has been trying
to get one for years.
II was stated, you may remember,
that he had sent a special expedition TO
the polar regions in quest of the arctic
flea, but this. the director of the mu-
scum himself assured the writer. was
an exaggeration of the facts. Hearing
that a trawler named the Forget Me-
Not was going to the arctic regions in
quest of foxskins. Mr.. Rothschild asked
this salt to look out for the desired
flea. only two specimens of which are
known to exist. in collections But.
alas. the captain returned fiealess. and
some time later Nathaniel Charles
Rothschild. in desperation, offered
$1,000 for an arctic insect, but this re-
ward has yet to be earned.
The fieas at Tring Park, like tho
other inmates of the muse um. have been
collected through agents, and when-
ever an expedition is about to start for
protracted journey through foreign
land the Rothschilds usually erEaee
one of the party to collect specimens OF
the insect from any species of animal
or bird encountered. The employers
supply phals. chloroform and labels,
and the specimens reach TrinG labeled
with the name of the creature on winch
they were found They are then classi.
fed hermetically sealed and psched
away in their proper cases
In the pursuit of his hobby this mlis
Honaire naturalist is absolutely rrgards
less of expense, as. indeed, he can ar
ford to be. Some time ago, when ne
heard that the concessionaires of the
Island of Guadeloupe, acting under
rights obtained from the Mexican gov.
ernment, were about to slaughter an
the fur seals and sea elephants remains
ing there for the sake of skin and oil,
he promptly arranged for the purchase
of six of the elephonts and had them
shipped to Tring.
Nor did he count the cost when he got
up his wonderful book on "Extince
Birds" which cost 100000 to bring out.
AS il was impossible that the subject
ever would be dealt with in the same
way again, the millionaire stipulated
that his work should be turned out in
imperishable form. with the result that
experiments had to be carried on for
several years to obtain an absolutely
imperishable paper. There were forty
Ave colored prints, representing sixty
three subjects, and the block of these
alone cost $4,000. The zoologist mod
estly called his book. the price of winch
was made S125 copy. IAN attempt to
write in one volume an account Of those
birds which have become extinct ~
historical times-that is. within the In
six or seven hundred years-to whirh
are added few which are almost eA-
tinct. or which may be considered so
Practically any properly accredited
person can visit the Tring museum, and
Il has something like 10000 visitors IN
the course of every year
Copyright. 1918. by Curtis Brown'