1865. | DR. J. MURIE ON TROCHETA SUBVIRIDIS. 661 
curred in a female Yak that afterwards formed part of the Collection 
at Knowsley of the late Earl of Derby. The man in charge of the 
Yak, and who brought it to England, told Mr. Bartlett that for 
several weeks in the first part of the voyage the animal seemed to 
lose flesh fast, and altogether have the appearance of a wasting and 
decline. One afternoon while watching it, he was surprised to see 
a large Leech descend one of the nostrils and, curling itself round, 
proceed to ascend the other, when he seized it and withdrew it from 
the Yak’s nose. He brought the Leech with him to England, and 
showed it to Mr. Bartlett, who supposes it to have been not much 
less than 9 inches long ; but, not suspecting it to be an animal of spe- 
cial interest, he did not preserve the specimen. After the Leech had 
been abstracted from the Yak’s nose, the latter animal seemed to 
thrive well, and it was afterwards landed in England in excellent 
condition. 
Since then, namely in June last, and soon after three Yaks had 
arrived at the Society’s Gardens belonging to Mr. Stone, there was 
found in the water-trough where the newly imported Yaks drank, 
another large Leech, the same which I now exhibit, and which ap- 
pears also to be a specimen of Trocheta subviridis. Mr. Bartlett 
immediately suspected this must have come from one of the new 
animals; and his thoughts were so far verified, that Mr. Stone in- 
formed him that Leeches of a similar character had been discharged 
or obtained from the Yaks during the voyage. 
Although from what I have said it cannot be affirmed with cer- 
tainty that this Leech does not belong to the British fauna, yet, with 
this somewhat contradictory testimony before us, it may be as well 
to suspend judgment until at least more accurate evidence is given, 
whether it has not thus casually been imported to these islands. 
My own belief, from the statements made, inclines me to the idea 
of its importation by the medium of some large animal—especially as 
I myself on one occasion took several small Leeches from the posterior 
nares of a large Hippopotamus killed by our party in the river Aye, 
an upper tributary of the White Nile—and also as several authorities 
have mentioned the occasional occurrence of Leeches in the nasal 
passages of other large animals. 
Apart from the decision of this point, it still remains undecided 
whether Trocheta subviridis is to be regarded as belonging to Bri- 
tain, or whether it has an Asiatic habitat*. M. Moquin-Tandon, 
p- 309, records it as being found in several places in France, as the 
district of the Loire, ‘Toulouse, Dordogne, Xc., also in the environs 
of Algiers, but he does not mention its geographical distribution to 
the East Indies. 
Respecting the name of this genus, in an article in the October 
number of the ‘ Natural History Review,’ 1865, reviewing Dr. John- 
* In the discussion following the reading of this paper, Dr. Sclater stated that 
the Moluccan Deer had not been imported direct from the East, but had been 
received from the Zoological Society of Amsterdam. If so, it more readily ac- 
counts for this Continental species of Leech being now found in England, and, 
moreover, adds to the probability of a similar Eastern importation. 
