112 



CLASS ANNULATA. 



The stomach of this creature is very curiously formed, 

 being composed of a number of chambers, each chamber 

 having a separate connexion with the intestinal canal, 

 in such a manner that, at the will of the animal, the 

 contents of each chamber can be emptied singly into 

 that canal, through a distinct opening. 



It was long a matter of dispute as to whether leeches 

 were produced from eggs or born alive, but it is now 

 ascertained that the ova are developed in a singular case, 

 having some resemblance to the cocoon of a silk-worm. 

 The following engraving represents this case, of its 

 natural size: fig. 1, shows the perfect case or cocoon, 

 and fig. 2, the same opened, with the young leeches con- 

 Fig. 1. Fig. 2, 



tained within it ; it is said that, at times, there are as 

 many as thirteen or fourteen] in one case. This cocoon 

 is formed by the parent animal, and by it deposited in 

 the mud or clay, which composes the bed of the pool it 

 inhabits. 



The fact of the young leech being produced from 

 these cocoons, although only latterly ascertained by 

 naturalists, was long since well known to the dealers in 

 leeches on the French coast, who avail themselves of this 

 knowledge of their habits, to multiply them for the pur- 

 pose of sale. 



*' It was by these means the leech-dealers of Bretagne, 



