This very troublesome little animal multiplies very fast among old rags, dirt, straw, and litter, where hogs, cats, or dogs sleep; and in the hair and bristles of those creatures: therefore, as a means of avoiding such unwelcome neighbours, in the springs the cleanly farmer scrapes up the rubbish about his woodpile, and around his house and barn, and removes it into his field, where it also repays him by manuring his lands. They abound in warm countries, particularly in the southern parts of France and Italy.

When examined by a microscope, the flea is a pleasant object. The body is curiously adorned with a suit of polished armour, neatly jointed, and beset with a great number of sharp pins almost like the quills of a porcupine: it has a small head, large eyes, two horns, or feelers, which proceed from the head, and four long legs from the breast; they are very hairy and long, and have several joints, which fold as it were one within another.