University of Virginia Library

ANTIDOTE FOR FLEAS.

The following recipe from the writings of Miss Hannah
More, may be found useful to your readers:

In a climate where the attacks of fleas are a constant
source of annoyance, any method which will alleviate them
becomes a desideratum. It is, therefore, with pleasure I
make known the following recipe, which I am assured has
been tried with efficacy.

Boil a quart of tar until it becomes quite thin. Remove
the clothing, and before the tar becomes perfectly cool, with
a broad flat brush, apply a thin, smooth coating to the entire
surface of the body and limbs. While the tar remains soft,
the flea becomes entangled in its tenacious folds, and is
rendered perfectly harmless; but it will soon form a hard,
smooth coating, entirely impervious to his bite. Should the
coating crack at the knee or elbow joints, it is merely necessary
to retouch it slightly at those places. The whole coat
should be renewed every three or four weeks. This remedy

is sure, and having the advantage of simplicity and economy,
should be generally known.

So much for Miss More. A still simpler method of preventing
the attacks of these little pests, is one which I have
lately discovered myself;—in theory only—I have not yet
put it into practice. On feeling the bite of a flea, thrust the
part bitten immediately into boiling water. The heat of the
water destroys the insect and instantly removes the pain of
the bite.

You have probably heard of old Parry Dox. I met him
here a few days since, in a sadly seedy condition. He told
me that he was still extravagantly fond of whisky, though he
was constantly “running it down.” I inquired after his
wife. “She is dead, poor creature,” said he, “and is probably
far better off than ever she was here. She was a seamstress,
and her greatest enjoyment of happiness in this world was
only so, so.”