Sorry if this posting seems inconsequential, but I'm looking for details on one
of my favourite quotes. I'm creating a laboratory parasitology manual for a
medical parasitology course and I want to start it off with the hoary old
chestnut (and entomologically impossible)
"Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite'em
And little fleas have lesser fleas
And so ad infinitum"
More to do with fractals than parasitology, I know, but I've found it gets the
students thinking a fair bit. Anyway, I'm not sure whether the actual quote is
correct (not that that has stopped anyone in the past), and I'm not sure who
said it first (a small voice is saying "Mark Twain"). I've got this niggling
feeling that this is the sort of thing that all parasitologists should know,
but cultural heritage is not a big thing at this university. Anyone who does
know the real details, please email me and let us know. Other pithy quotes are
more than welcome.
Thanks,
Peter Darben, QUT, Brisbane, Australia
Still making the world safe from pig worms
