STABLE MANAGEMENT 219 



added, "if he produces his remedy out of his waistcoat 

 pocket!" And so when his words proved only too 

 prophetic the Surgeon-General had winced in the manner 

 I had noted, and the others in the secret were highly 

 amused. 



Whilst water in general is often the vehicle for conveying 

 unwelcome internal parasites, pond water is frequently 

 responsible for the introduction of leeches into the mouth, 

 especially in hot climates. They ensconce themselves 

 mostly under the tongue, and if not removed cause great 

 discomfort to the animal, though their presence is not 

 always suspected by an unobservant groom. They also 

 insinuate themselves into the nostrils, and in either locality 

 frequently only betray themselves by the trickling down of 

 a thin stream of blood, which issues after they have gorged 

 themselves with a meal. Persons unaccustomed to such 

 visitations are apt to think a blood-vessel has been broken, 

 but on any such occurrence taking place it is well to insti- 

 tute a close search, when a black-looking body may be 

 detected. Often this is minute, if the leech has not lately 

 been indulging itself, though when gorged with blood it is 

 easily seen. The simplest way of removing the pest is to 

 enwrap the fingers in a handkerchief, or something similar, 

 which enables the operator to obtain a firm grasp of the 

 intruder, and then a sudden twitch should be effective in 

 ejecting it from its hiding-place. Caution and skill, how- 

 ever, are very necessary for the due accomplishment of this 

 apparently simple process, for if the leech should be in the 

 least alarmed it will bury its head in the roots of the tongue 

 and offer such resistance that its expulsion can only be effected 

 with difficulty, while the tearing it away from its hold may 

 result in a sore place being made in the horse's mouth. 

 Occasionally it is even advisable to defer the operation and 

 to endeavour to take the leech unawares on a subsequent 

 occasion. When no hitch occurs the leech can be 

 removed with ease, and the writer has thus extracted 

 these pests on many occasions, sometimes in the stable, 

 but more often in the course of a ride ; and it may be men- 

 tioned that it is frequently a person riding alongside another 



