THE FLEA. 197 



suits them, they stand in a row, head to tail, and pass it 



from one to another under their bodies. The Bee is larger 

 than the queen of the hive bee. 



THE FLEA. 



The histories of these animals with which we are the 

 best acquainted, are the first objects of our chiefest curiosi- 

 ty. There are but few well informed of the agility and 

 blood thirsty disposition of the Flea, or of the caution with 

 which it comes to the pursuit. This insect, which is not 

 only the enemy of mankind, but of the dog, cat, and several 

 other animals, is found in every part of the world, but 

 bites with greater severity in some countries than in 

 others. Its numbers in Italy and France are much 

 greater than in England ; and yet its bite is much more 

 troublesome here than I have found it in any other place. 

 It would seem that its force increased with the coldness of 

 the climate, and, though less prolific, that it became more 

 predaceous. 



If the flea be examined with a microscope, it will be ob- 

 served to have a small head, large eyes, and a roundish 

 body. It has two feelers, or horns, which are short, and 

 composed of four joints -, and through which it sucks the 

 blood in large quantities. The body appears to be all 

 over curiously adorned with a suit of polished sable 

 armour, neatly jointed, and beset with multitudes of sharp 

 pins, almost like the quills of a porcupine. It has six legs, 

 the joints of which are so adapted, that it can, as it were, 

 fold them up one within another ; and when it leaps they 

 all spring out at once, whereby its whole strength is ex- 

 erted, and (he body raised above two hundred times its 

 own diameter. 



The young fleas are at first a sort of nits or eggs, which 

 are round and smooth, and from these proceed white 

 worms, of a shining pearl colour ; and in a fortnight's 

 time they come to a tolerable size, and are very lively and 

 active, but if they are touched at this time, they roll them- 

 selves up in a ball : soon after this they begin to creep, 

 like silkworms that have no legs, and then they seek a 

 place to lie hid in, where they spin a silken thread from 

 their mouth, and with this they enclose themselves in a 

 small round bag or case, as white within as writing paper 



s 2 



