Even in medieval Europe, the owners of street-stand, shops, and pharmacies, set out something unusual, for example, stuffed exotic animals, to attract as many customers as possible. People believed that the body parts of such animals had healing properties. Stuffed crocodiles were often hung out in pharmacies, and reptile organs were used to make medicines. It was believed that this gave medicines additional magical functions.

In continuation of this tradition, a special object was set out in the ‘Old Tula Pharmacy’ as well. There is a real shod flea under the microscope in the permanent exhibition. This miniature was made in the late 1990s by a locksmith Nikolai Aldunin, who worked at the Tyazhpromarmatura plant in the town of Aleksin, Tula region. Unlike the hero from the work of Nikolai Leskov ‘A Tale of oblique Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea’, he used a real flea. To repeat the heroic deed of Lefty, Aldunin spent two years preparing: he studied the works of other masters and books on micro art, purchased a powerful microscope, and mounted a special workshop without drafts and sunlight. The locksmith recalled that before starting the work, he removed the small claws and some of the hairs from the flea legs so that the horseshoes would fit better. Aldunin knocked the tack in between the beats of his heart to avoid incorrect movements. The creation of the shod flea took another three months.