Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1876 — A Wonderful Flea Exhibition. [ARTICLE]

A Wonderful Flea Exhibition.

Thousands of persons have heard at various times of exhibitions of “ educated fleas,” but probably very few in this country have ever seen them. There is such an exhibition in this city at the present time, and, although not advertised, save by a placard in front of the building where it is to be seen, there is a daily attendance of 400 persons to witness this very novel sight. The proprietor calls himself Prof. Bartolotto, and claims to be the original inventor of the show, and all other exhibitors of trained fleas impostors. The professor is over sixty years old, and' has been engaged in this business for forty years. He is a quaint individual, and his discourses upon fleas are as serious upon his part as if he were reading an essay upon metaphysics. The man sits behind a small table, covered with a white cloth, and his Liliputian apparatus are marvels of mechanical skill. The fleas are larger than the lively creatures which are usually so troublesome. He manages to attach them to the performing instruments by means of infinitesimal firths of silk fiber around their bodies. hey are released from this bondage at six p. m., and placed in harness early in the morning. Upon being released Bartolotto allows them to feed upon his arm, and he seems to enjoy their feeding quite as much as they relish it. What is strange about these educated fleas is that they never strive to escape. After their feeding he picks them up one at a time and places them in a compartment of a small circular box, each space numbered, and though it requires uncommon credulity, he assures visitors he never makes a mistake in assigning his fleas to any rooms but those which belong to them. They never get into wrong rooms. It is impossible, without seeing them, to conceive of the feats performed by these educated insects. The first process of training a wild flea is to place. it in a sort of a tread-mill with ’ glass sides; it is called the preparatory school. The flea hops around, beating against the glass sides madly enough at first, but when it finds escape impossible, begins to walk on the bottom, and thus takes literally the first civilized step. The following are selected from the programme, and, writing from personal observation, I can assure you that that there is no humbug in it: 1. Coach drawn by two fleas, the coachman witn whip, two fleas inside all dressed. 2. A miniature steamer drawn by one flea, dragging 600 times its own weight. 3. A model street-car drawn by one flea (this shows the wonderful strength of the flea—the car and contents is 1,200 times the weight of the insect). 4. A ball-room with orchestra, dancers, etc., represented by fleas. Tke motion of the violin-bows and the waltzing by fleas upon the floor of the ball-room is perfect. There are various others, such as turning windmills, drawing buckets from miniature wells, and a so-cailed duel in which two fleas fence with tiny swords of real steel.— Y. Cor. Chicago Tribune.