The flea sticks

 

 

Since the beginning of time, men have tried to keep a memory of the landscapes they travelled through. Pictures, photographs, postcards, etchings or original drawings: each era had its own techniques.
But outdoor landscapes were not the only subjects. They say that, in the old days, walkers took along a walking stick tipped with a tiny cage in which was placed a beetle. As soon as they got home, they dipped the beetle's legs in some ink, and then placed it on a blank page. The scarab, still stunned by the journey , made a drawing which was meant to be a faithful transcription of the walker's movements with the walking stick according to the thoughts that had occurred to him as he strolled along.
If, nowadays, we are no longer allowed to inflict such cruelty on animals, technological prowess lets us introduce a tiny electronic card into the tips of the canes, which easily takes over the scarab's role.