The Flea 
67 
addition, too, of soap) is the natural 
means which man turns to, or ought to 
turn to, to cleanse the surface of his body 
from these impurities so deleterious to his 
health. But, unfortunately, there is always 
with us the great body of the unwashed. 
What of these ? Are they simply to die 
straight away, because of their non-com- 
pliance with the laws of Nature ? No, 
the little flea comes along, rejoicing because, 
on the unwashed personality, he finds a 
congenial atmosphere and he commences 
operations. His proboscis, like a micro- 
scopic saw, punctures the skin. The 
individual either jabs, or scratches, with 
the finger nails the spot attacked, and so 
unconsciously is doing with his nails what 
he might have done with water ; he clears 
away from the pores of the skin the dead 
particles of matter, etc. 
The flea is a very troublesome little 
visitor, very low down — ought not, by 
common consent, to be even mentioned in 
good society — but don’t say he doesn’t 
earn his daily bread (or his blood). If 
you want to be rid of him altogether, 
then you must not only be strictly clean as 
