This image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseBamboo flea trap, Chinese, 1751-1850
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Bamboo flea trap, Chinese, 1751-1850
The inner tube of this bamboo trap was coated with a sticky substance such as birdlime to catch fleas. It can be removed to dispose of the dead fleas. Other Chinese traps were made from hollow pieces of bamboo or ivory and heated to attract fleas. They could be placed in beds to catch these insects, which bite and cause intense itching. Fleas are known to be carriers of diseases such as plague.
Details
- Category:
- Public Health & Hygiene
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A626440
- Materials:
- bamboo
- Measurements:
-
overall: 293 mm x 61 mm, 51 mm, .18kg
- type:
- insect trap
