APPENDIX C 113 



APPENDIX C 



ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING FLEAS 



There are two methods by which fleas may be 

 preserved for study when they have been collected. 

 The first is by keeping the specimens] in small tubes 

 of alcohol ; the second is by mounting each in Canada 

 balsam on a slide for the microscope. The advantage 

 of the former method is that the material can be used 

 for dissection. The student can do nothing without 

 a microscope, though some of the commoner species 

 can be identified with tolerable certainty by a 

 practised eye which is assisted by a pocket-lens. 



The tubes are best stored away in a cabinet fitted 

 with wooden shelves and holes to take the tubes like 

 a test-tube holder. Fleas dried and preserved loose 

 in a box, or gummed on card, are useless for purposes 

 of minute examination, and are soon destroyed. 



Fleas may be collected from the great majority of 

 mammals and birds in almost all parts of the globe. 

 They can be found in the hair and under the feathers, 

 and also in the places where the animals habitually 

 sleep. The best places, from which a plentiful haul 

 may often be obtained, are the holes and nests in 

 which the young have been reared. 



It is essential to remember, when an animal has 



R. F. 8 



