Fig. 17.
Flea (Pulex irritans).
Its head, small in proportion to the body, is compressed, and carries two small antennæ, of cylindrical form, composed of four joints, which the animal shakes continually when in motion, but which it lowers and rests in front of its head when in a state of repose. The eyes are simple, large, and round. The beak is composed of an exterior jointed sheath, having inside it a tube, and carrying underneath two long sharp lancets, with cutting and saw-like edges. It is with this instrument that the flea pierces the skin, irritates it, and causes the blood on which it lives to flow.
This bite, as every one knows, is easily recognised by the presence of small darkish red spots, surrounded by a circle of a paler colour. The quantity of blood absorbed by this little creature is enormous, when compared with its size.
The body of the flea is divided into thirteen segments, of which one forms the head; three the thorax, which is short, and the remainder the abdomen.
The limbs are long, strong, and spiny. The tarsus, or foot, has five joints, and terminates in hooks turned in opposite directions. The two anterior limbs are separated from the others, and are inserted nearly under the head; the posterior ones are particularly large and strong.
The jumps which fleas are able to make are really gigantic, and the strength of these little animals quite herculean, when compared with the size of their bodies. The reader may be inclined to smile at the assertion that the flea possesses herculean strength; but let him wait a little, and he will find that it is no exaggeration.
To give some idea of the strength, the docility, and the goodwill of the fleas, some wonderful little things have been made, which have served at the same time to show the astonishing skill of certain workmen.
In his "Histoire abrégée des Insectes," published in the seventh year of the French Republic, Geoffroy relates that a certain Mark, an Englishman, had succeeded, by dint of patience and art, in making a gold chain the length of a finger, with a padlock and a key to fasten it, not exceeding a single grain in weight. A flea attached to the chain pulled it easily. The same learned writer relates a still more surprising fact. An English workman constructed a carriage and six horses of ivory. The coachman was on the box, with a dog between his legs, there were also a postillion, four persons in the carriage, and two servants behind, and the whole of this was drawn by one flea.
In his "Histoire Naturelle des Insectes Aptères," Baron Walckenaer relates the following marvellous instance of industry, patience, and dexterity:—
"I think it is about fifteen years ago, that the whole population of Paris could see the following wonders exhibited on the Place de la Bourse for sixty centimes. They were the learned fleas. I have seen and examined them with entomological eyes, assisted by a glass.