TJie Leech. 541 



any food. It is usual, however, to make them disgorge 

 the greater part of the blood they have swallowed by 

 sprinkling them with salt ; as otherwise they would 

 not bite again till the blood they had taken was fully 

 digested. 



Leeches lay eggs, which are covered with a kind of 

 membrane, which serves to protect them when they are 

 deposited in the clay and holes in the sides of ponds. 

 They appear to live on the eggs of fish or frogs, bul 

 eagerly attach themselves to the legs of human beings, 

 horses, or cows, whenever they have an opportunity. 

 As there is a prejudice among the country people that 

 Leeches never breed well till they have tasted blood, 

 it is said that they drive their horses and cows into the 

 water inhabited by the Leeches, and consequently that 

 the Leech districts are remarkable for their wretched- 

 looking horses and cattle. Leeches must be five years 

 old before they are fit for medical purposes ; and they 

 are caught in shallow water in spring by people going 

 in with naked feet and ankles, to which the Leeches 

 adhere, when they are picked off and put in baskets 

 provided for the purpose. In summer a raft is made of 

 twigs, and the waters being disturbed with a stick, the 

 Leeches rise to the surface, and get entangled in the 

 raft. When caught, the} 7 are washed in water with a 

 very little salt in it, and packed in wet linen cloths, 

 which are put into a barrel with a canvas cover, and 

 sent away for sale. London used to be chiefly supplied 

 from the fenny districts of Lincolnshire, but the con- 

 sumption of these useful worms has been so great that 

 most of our Leeches are now imported through Hambro' 

 from the east of Europe. Some years since Dr. Pereira 

 stated that the number of Leeches imported by the four 

 principal dealers in London amounted to 7,200,000 

 annually. They are also, when kept in a glass bottle 

 with water, a good barometer, as they always come up 

 to the neck of the bottle when rainy weather is ap- 

 proaching, remain at the bottom in dry weather, and 

 move anxiously up and down when the weather is 

 stormy. Horse-Leeches are larger than the common 

 species, more voracious, and narrower at each extremity. 



