THE FLEA. 151 



Curious exhibitions Eggs. 



Strand, London, exhibited to the public a little 

 ivory chaise, with four wheels, and all its proper 

 apparatus, and a man sitting on the box, all of 

 which were drawn by a single flea. He made a 

 small landau, which opened and shut by springs, 

 with six horses harnessed to it, a coachman sit- 

 ting on the box, and a dog between his legs; 

 four persons in the carriage, two footmen behind 

 it, and a postillion riding on one of the fore- 

 horses, which was also easily drawn along by a 

 flea. He likewise had a chain of brass, about 

 two inches long, containing two hundred links, 

 with a hook at one end, and a padlock and key 

 at the other, which the flea drew very nimbi j 

 along. 



Fleas are produced from eggs which the fe- 

 males stick fast, by a kind of glutinous matter, 

 to the roots of the hairs of cats, dogs, and other 

 animals; or to the wool in blankets, rugs, or 

 other similar furniture. Of these egsfs the fe- 



oo 



male lays len or twelve a day, for several days 

 successively ; and they are hatched in the same 

 order five or six days after being laid. From the 

 eggs come forth, not perfect fleas, but little 

 whitish worms, or maggots, whose bodies have 

 annular divisions, and are thinly covered with 

 long hairs. They adhere closely to the body 

 of the animal, on which they were produced; 

 and feed on the scurfy excretion of the skin, the 

 downy substance of linen, &,c. They are about 

 a fourth of an inch in length,, and without feet; 



