CH. XX. J HISTORY OF THE FLEA. 277 



about like drops of quicksilver, and of falling into 

 the lowest crevices in the substance upon which 

 they have been deposited, and in which the larvae, 

 when hatched, may be protected. To convince 

 ourselves of these facts it is sufficient to examine, 

 especially during the summer, a fauteuil, upon which 

 a dog" or cat is accustomed to lay, where these eggs 

 may be found in profusion, between the body of the 

 animal and the seat of the sofa. 



If we were not prejudiced against these insects 

 on account of their attacks upon us, w^e might nat- 

 urally feel anxiety for the fate of the larvae which 

 proceed from the eggs, thus apparently left unpro- 

 tected. Nature, however, ever careful towards all 

 her productions, has provided for their support in a 

 most remarkable manner. With the eggs may be 

 found numerous small black grains, which evidently 

 have fallen from the animal upon which the parent 

 insect has been feeding, and which, in fact, are to 

 become the food of the larvae, being nothing else 

 than dried drops of congealed blood, which, upon 

 being moistened, immediately resume a liquid state 

 and red colour. These grains have generally been 

 considered as the excrement of the parent insect ; 

 but M. Defrance states several reasons which have 

 induced him to doubt whether they have such an 

 origin. Among these may be mentioned the cir- 

 cumstance, that, had these drops of blood passed 

 through the body of the insect, they would have 

 lost the colour and fluidity of blood, and that no 

 instance is known of animals providing so nauseous 

 a repast for their progeny as their own excrement. 

 These reasons do not, however, appear to us quite 

 satisfactory, since every one has observed that, in 

 killing a well-fed flea, its body is completely filled 

 with what appears to be nothing else than red 

 blood ; and it does not follow that these grains are 

 reallj'^ excrementitious, since numerous instances 

 might be adduced, in which the food laid up in store 



Vol. II.— Aa 



