THE PERFORMING FLEA.
Most people have heard of what have been described as educated or performing fleas. These performances, Mr W. I*. Rainbow, entomologist at the Australian Museum, told the members of the New South Wales Health Society last week were not real. It was not possible to educate a flea. The antics of the fleas during the socalled performances could only be attributed to the desire for freedom. Describing the modus operandi of those who conducted the “flea circuses,” he said that very fine silk fibre was passed round the bodies of the insects and knotted on the back. The flea might then be cemented to some object. It might pull a coach by being attached to a pole, but in order that it should not kick over the traces by trying to take a leap, the hind legs were cemented or gummed to the insect's body. A little paper object stuck on its back was by courtesy termed an equestrian or postillion, and all then needed on the part of the audience was a lively imagination.
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Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1133, 14 August 1913, Page 4
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178THE PERFORMING FLEA. Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1133, 14 August 1913, Page 4
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