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76
MOTOGRAPHY
Vol. V, No. 5.
Trained Fleas— A New Picture Subject
By Willard Howe
Some of the Apparatus Used in Camera. The Professor is
AMONG the odd and freakish films that have been taken from time to time, a place must be given to one recently photographed by S. G. Boernstein, of the Capitol Film Company, Washington, D. C. It is entitled "The Flea Circus," and shows a band of trained fleas going through a series of stunts that are remarkable, to say the least. The very title is astonishing, and one
is apt to brand it as some kind of fake, remembering that fleas are such diminutive creatures less than an eighth of an inch in size ; but they have been subjected to a magnifying process, and appear upon the screen as large as people, performing stunts that show an amazing amount of intelligence.
The trainer is Prof. R. A. Nokes, an American, who has done considerable traveling with his company of trained fleas, exhibiting them in various parts of the country. Owing to the peculiar nature of the exhibition, however, audiences were always limited to the number that could crowd around the stage and watch the tiny actors. In order that the general public might witness the flea circus in large audiences, Prof. Nokes sought Mr. Boernstein and the motion camera. The subject was so unusual and previous attempts had proved so futile that the trainer had become skeptical of the results to be obtained ; yet so confident did Mr. Bernstein feel of his success that he contracted to give Prof. Nokes a satisfactory film, or no payment need be made. As the vernacular has it, he sot awav with it.
Preparing the Trained Fleas for the Putting a Gold Collar on a Flea.
The result proves to be one of the most astonishing performances of trained animals that the public has ever viewed. The tiny creatures, magnified thousands of times, are seen walking the tightrope, juggling balls as large as themselves, pulling chariots, turning a merry-goround with other fleas seated in the coaches enjoying the spin. There is one on a treadmill, and yet others who line up with the artillery. Then there is a company of merry-dancers, dressed in tiny gowns. It is all most entertaining and amazing.
A delicate operation in flea training is to put on the gold wire collar — to make it sufficiently secure and yet not to choke the insect. A picture of this operation is shown on the screen. Then the punishment of an unruly subject is shown, by suspending him on a wire; and the manner of breaking a flea from jumping', by confining him in a glass globe. The hospital, or incubator, where the fleas reside when off duty (the rectangular glass jar shown in the large cut), is explained to the audience as well as the microscopes, tweezers, and other' instruments used by Prof. Nokes in training and caring for his strange pets. All the "properties" used in connection with the circus stunts are of gold.
As an educational motion film for students or as a bizarre entertainment for the curious, the film will be found to create a strong impression. Viewed from another angle the film is an interesting example of the motion picture in its role of rescue worker.
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Paraphernalia Used in the Flea Circus.
This Flea is Suspended on a Wire for Punishment.
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