ORDER IV. SUCTORIA.—THE FLEAS. il 
worms, very active, coiling themselves up in a circle or spire, serpentine in 
their progress, at first white, and afterwards reddish. Their body is com- 
posed of a scaly head, without eyes, bearing two very minute antenne and 
thirteen segments, with small tufts of hair and a pair of little hooks at the 
tip of the last. The mouth exhibits a few small, movable parts, of which 
the larve make use in pushing themselves forwards. After living about 
twelve days under this form, these larye enclose themselves in a small 
silken cocoon, where they become pupw, and whence they make their escape 
in the perfect state at the expiration of a similar period. 
P. Irritans. —The Common Flea feeds on the blood of man, the dog, 
and cat. Its larva lives amongst dirt, and beneath the nails of filthy persons ; 
also in the nests of birds, such as pigeons, attaching itself to the necks of 
the young, and gorging itself till it becomes red. 
P,. Penetrans. —The Chigoe, or Jigger, forms a peculiar genus. Its 
beak is of the length of the body. It inhabits the tropical regions of 
America, where it is the terror of the natives. It introduces itself beneath 
the nails of the feet and the skin of the heel, where it soon acquires the 
size of a small pea, by the quick growth of the eggs, which it bears in a 
large membranous bag beneath the abdomen, the numerous family from 
which occasions, by remaining in the wound, an ulcer very difficult to heal, 
which even sometimes becomes mortal. Frequent washings, and rubbing 
the feet with fresh tobacco leaves, or those of other bitter plants, are pre- 
ventives against its attacks. The negroes, or more commonly the negresses, 
are in the habit of extracting the insect, with great skill, from its lodgment. 
These singular little creatures appear to possess no small degree of intel- 
ligence, and are capable, strange as it may seem, of some education. Geof- 
frey. (“Litstotre abrégée des Insectes”) mentions that an Englishman 
succeeded in making a gold chain the length of a finger, with padlock and 
key to fasten it, not exceeding a single grain in weight. A flea attached to 
the chain pulled it easily. He relates another fact still more wonderful. An 
English workman constructed a carriage and six horses of ivory. The coach- 
man was on the box, with a dog between his legs; there were also a 
postilion, four persons in the carriage, and two servants behind, and the 
whole drawn by one flea. 
Baron Walchenaer, author of the “ [Zistotre Naturelle des Insectes Ap- 
téres,” is responsible for the following remarkable account. In 1825, an 
extraordinary exhibition amazed the people of Paris; it was no less than a 
company of trained fleas. The learned baron says, “I saw and examined 
them with entomological eyes, assisted by a glass.” To enable an assem- 
blage of persons to witness the performance of these diminutive creatures 
in a large room, the spectators were seated in front of a curtain, provided 
NO. XVIII. 88 
