1877.] Educated Fleas. T 
evidence stands, it is not absolutely proven that a group of 
animals having all the characters exhibited by a species in nat- 
ure has ever been originated by selection, whether artificial or 
natural.” 1 
Lonpon, October 4, 1876. 
EDUCATED FLEAS. 
BY W. H. DALL. 
N old-fashioned “ annuals” and especially in obsolete works 
on instinct and intelligence among the lower animals, ac- 
counts of the so-called “ Educated Fleas” will doubtless be re- 
membered by my adult readers. The story of their marvelous 
performances had for my boyhood a peculiar interest not un- 
mixed with incredulity. In later years I had begun half-uncon- 
sciously to class them with the spurious marvels of the ‘ auto- 
matic chess player ” and the generation of Acari by the action of 
electricity on chemicals. So far as my mind was occupied with 
the subject at all, it had concluded on general principles that in- 
telligent action, of the kind described in the old works referred 
to, could be attributed to fleas with very little probability ; and 
that, whatever the innate mental ability possessed by them, it 
was in the highest degree unlikely that it was susceptible of 
training. 
Some weeks ago, when passing through Broadway, New York, 
not far from Union Square, an accidental glance caught the sign 
over a doorway, “ Exhibition of Educated Fleas.” Past memo- 
ries and present curiosity determined me to make an inspection 
at once. Half an hour later I had seen all there was to see, pur- 
chased a lively little pamphlet by — shall I say the inventor of the 
educated fleas ? and decided that the small fee exacted was well 
expended. As it does not appear that the modus operandi of this 
exhibition has ever been explained, an attempt in that direction 
may not be uninteresting to the readers of the Naturalist. 
To make the explanation intelligible it will be necessary to 
begin with the conclusion, or in other words to first state the es- 
sential part of the explanation. 
First, the fleas are not educated. - 
Second, all the performances which make up the exhibition cae 
may be traced directly to the desire and earnest efforts of the 
insects to escape. The means employed to give an appearance 
1 Lay Sermons, page 323 (English edition). ae 
