PERFORMING FLEAS.

North Otago Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1198, 14 February 1876, Page 2

PERFORMING FLEAS.

Signor Bertolotto, a venerable Italian, upwards of sixty, in connection with the flea has established a European reputation. Recently he had his menagerie at 39 Union square, and invited a select audience to witness his performance, prior to its being thrown open to the public. The exhibitor is a genial old man with a voice modified by long intercourse with his minute friends ; his hand, though large, possesses an exquisite delicacy of touch, and he bends over and fondles his singular pets as though he felt a real affection for them. i Tn 1832 he began the training of fleas in England, and amassing a considerable fortune retired from professinal life. Recently times have gone very hard with him, and again he summons the fleas to his rescue. The professor's present troupe consists of 100 female fleas (male fleas are discarded as utterly intractable), which were brought from Canada the professor making the delightful announcement that fleas are extremely scarce in the United States. The performance opened with a passage-at-arms between Don Quixote tt& Sancho Panza, two bloodthirsty fleas that, mounted on tiny paper horses, attacked each other with spears. The tiny paper horses being stationary, no great damage was done to either of the contestants, but thp fleas really appeared actuated by deadly hatred, and whirled the little spears about in a furious manner. Next an illustration of the immense strength of the creatures was given in the performance of a herculean flea, who, being harnessed to a little chariot weighing just 1200 times its own weight, drew the same about the table. As an agent of locomotion, however, the flea is not so much of a success as in some other particulars, for its legs being centred in the immediate neighbourhood of its head, there is an unavoidable slovenly appearance about the way in which it carries the remainder of its body; and, besides, the natural gait of the flea is that of the agile kangaroo, and it can never be trained to assume a comely trot. However, the little creature shambled around with the chariot, and one of its fellows sat on the box, as dignified a driver as ever cracked a whip. A wild flea was next introduced, one that had never received any educational advantages. Its habit was still that of a creature who lives only to hop and bite, and a chain and ball attached to the hind

leg told of its unfitness to associate unreatrained with its civilized brothers. The chain and ball were of gold, the forme being 1 just one inch in length, and containing 400 links. On the same microscopic plan all the paraphernalia used was constructed — little hots and coats fitting with remarkable nicety. Other of these remarkable insects were made to turn cranks and hoist buckets, but the chef-d'oeuvre of the entertainment was some two dozen fleas at a ball. At one end of the ballroom was a complete orchestra, each flea holding its peculiar instrument in readiness for the dance. On the floor two couples were seen, and on a tiny sofa another was engaged, at least so said the professor, in a very desperate fliration. A music-box was then set in motion; at the first sound the little insects began their respective vocations, those on the floor whirling about in the dance, and those in the orchestra working their legs, to which •were attached the instruments, in a most enthusiastic manner. When the size of the flee is remembered, the task of handling them at all will be appreciated. Fortunately, they are as tough as porcupines, and can be unceremoniously picked up ■with steel pinchers without danger of hurting them. The average lifetime of a flee is about eight months, and as four months are required in subduing their spirits and altering their gait from a hop to a trot, it will be seen that the process of training is an endless one. Of the 100 fleas in this collection about half are performers, and have to be taken from .their harness of threads once a day to be fed. Their fodder is nothing less than the blood of the professor, who permits the whole flock to browse on his left arm every morning. — New York World.