HINTS FROM FLEAS. 



219 



"We have thus endeavoured briefly to biographize that re- 

 doubtable trio of blood-suckers, louse, bug, and flea, those 

 insect Eumenides which scourge both prince and peasant. 

 Does either prince or peasant ask, complainingly, Wherefore 

 am I subject to such vile tormentors? To the prince we 

 would reply, When your highness finds a flea upon your pur- 

 ple, it comes to remind you that you are of ordinary flesh and 

 blood, that you are nothing better than a man. To the pea- 

 sant we would answer, When your lowness finds a flea, or 

 something worse, upon your tatters, it comes to teach you that 

 flesh and blood want soap and water, without which you will 

 soon be nothing better than a brute ! 



stis )f tneful aid nourlr KiraafffplWJnJsr in mrnrsf . 



