6 THE LEECHES OF MINNESOTA 



the traveler in the rising grounds of Ceylon, the most detested 

 are the land leeches (Haemadipsa ceylonica). They are not fre- 

 quent in the plains, which arc too hot and dry For them, but 

 amongst the rank vegetation in the lower ranges of the hill coun- 

 try, which is kepi damp by frequent showers, they arc found in 

 tormenting profusion. They arc terrestrial, never visiting ponds 

 or streams. In size they arc about an inch in length and as tine- 

 as a common knitting needle; but they arc capable of distension 

 till they equal a quill in thickness, and attain a length of nearly 

 two inches. Their structure is so flexible that they can insinuate 

 themselves through the meshes of the finest stocking, not only 

 seizing- on the feet and ankles, but ascending to the hack and 

 throat, and fastening on the tendcrest parts of the body. In order 

 to exclude them, the coffee planters, who live among these pests, 

 are obliged to envelop their legs in "leech-gaiters" made of closely 

 woven cloth. The natives smear their bodies with oil, tobacco, 

 ashes, or lemon juice, the latter serving not only to stop the flow 

 of blood, but also to expedite the healing of the wounds. In mov- 

 ing, the land keches have the power of planting one extremity 

 on the earth and raising the other perpendicularly to watch for 

 their victim. Such is their vigilance and instinct, that, on the ap- 

 proach of a passer-by to a spot which the}- infest, they may he 

 -ceii amongst the grass and fallen leaves on the edge of a native 

 path, poised erect, and prepared for their attack on man and horse. 

 . . . Their size is so insignificant, and the wound they make is 

 so skillfully punctured, that both are generally imperceptible, and 

 the t"ii>t intimation of their onslaught is the trickling of the hlood, 

 or a chill feeling of tin- leech when it begins to hang heavily on 

 the skin from being distended with its repast. Horses arc driven 

 wild by them, ami stamp the ground in fury to shake them from 

 their fetlocks, to which they hang in bloody tassels. The hare 



of the palankin hearers and coolies arc a favorite resort; and 

 as their hands arc too much engaged to he spared to pull them <<i\. 

 the leeches hang like hunches of grapes around their ankles." 



( )ue of our species, Macrobdella decora, has been \i-v<\ insted 

 of the medicinal lee. h fi r bloodletting, hut since bloodletting thru 

 tin- leech i- no longer considerd a cure for all ills this species can 

 hardly In- clasl with animals beneficial to man. 



The medicinal leech in the heyday of bloodletting was culti- 

 it numbers in France, Hungary, Russia and other 



