Puce eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #19-1518 TPX—Puce. Puce Puce is a dark red or purple brown color, a brownish purple or a "dark reddish brown." "Puce" is the French word for "flea". The color is said to be the color of bloodstains on linen or bedsheets, even after being laundered, from a flea's droppings, or after a flea has been crushed. The "Oxford English Dictionary" ("OED") dates the first English use of "puce" as a color to 1778. The name comes from the French word "puce", or flea, which comes from the Latin words for flea, "pulicem" or "pulex". According
The Song of the Flea The Song of the Flea ""The Song of the Flea"" () is a song with piano accompaniment, composed by Modest Mussorgsky in 1879. The lyrics are from the Russian translation of Goethe's Faust. In 1879, Mussorgsky quit a civil service job, and, from August to November, accompanied soprano Darya Leonova (, 1829-1896) on a tour to Southern Russia, as her piano accompanist. He was much impressed by Leonova's singing, and composed "The Song of the Flea" during this trip or soon after he had returned to St. Petersburg, dedicating it to Leonova. It is unknown when the song was played