Posted on 01/26/2005 3:21:17 PM PST by Rakkasan1
London - Dame Miriam Rothschild, a self-taught scientist whose highly technical studies of parasites earned her the title "Queen of the Fleas", has died at the age of 96, her family said. Rothschild died on January 20 at her home, her family said. The cause of death was not announced. A private funeral was held the following day. A passionate conservationist known mainly for her work on fleas and butterflies, Rothschild also published more than 300 papers on a wide range of subjects that included bird behaviour and the effects of a group of chemicals called pyrazines. Her magnum opus was the Catalogue of the Rothschild Collection of Fleas, which appeared in six volumes over 30 years. Rothschild was the first to note that the rabbit flea allowed its breeding cycles to be controlled by its host rabbit's hormones and conducted fascinating research into the parasites infesting the eyelashes of hippos.
(Excerpt) Read more at news24.com ...
In 1943 she married George Lane, a handsome Hungarian-born British commando. They had four children and adopted two more before divorcing in 1957. As she raised her children, her late-night attention turned to fleas.
Using high-speed photography, she studied how fleas jump. She theorized that they descended from winged ancestors and employed modified flight structures. In a famous comparison, she said fleas jump as high for fleas as the Empire State Building would be for humans.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/10735150.htm?1c
You don't think being 96 had something to do with it?
God bless her! She sounds like she was a noble and very interesting person.
Wonder how many flea circuses will hold a moment of silence for her passing.
I'm just itchy all over reading this.
There seems to be an epidemic of totally unexplained deaths among very old people.
Personally, I blame Bush.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1329124/posts?page=2#2
I hope when I die I have a cool royal nickname. Hopefully nothing like King of Fungus or Earl of Earhair.
I'd rather be the 'Duke of Dorks' than the "King of Pop"

Her husband, Lord of the Flies, was reportedly in seclusion.
Im gonna be the Bastard of Beer.
Shoot for the stars!!! ;)
Maybe it was a bungee jumping accident, or she lost control of her motorcycle perhaps...
The same reporters who can't write, "He drove his truck off the road and hit a tree," can't say, "She died of old age." Somebody needs to whomp these twerps upside the head with some active-voice verbs.
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