LEECHES 293 
LEECHES 
Synonyms. Summer sore; leeching; barsati, barsdti, barsattee, 
barsatti, bausette, bursati, bursatie, burusattee, bursatti, bursautee. 
(These names have been derived from the Indian word burus or 
bursat, meaning rain or rain sore, it having been supposed that the 
malady was associated with the rainy season). 
Characterization. “Leeches” or “leeching” is an_ infectious 
disease quite prevalent among the horse kind in Florida with lesions 
localized on the skin or the mucosa of the head. It is thought by 
many that this affection is identical with the disease known as 
bursattee* in India. 
History. Neal of Florida first described this disease as affecting 
horses and cattle in the south. He believed it to be peculiar to that 
section, where he states it is common and very fatal to horses and 
mules. There are hundreds of ponds in the central portion of the 
state around the margins of which there is a belt of grassy prairie, 
water grass and water lilies. Into these grassy places the horses, 
mules and cows often go during the summer and feed all day in the 
water. He adds, “After a varying exposure to the influence, or 
whatever it may be called, of the ‘pond,’ a slight lump or elevation 
of the skin may be found on some part of the body that has been sub- 
merged. To the touch it will feel as if a grain of shot were lodged 
beneath the skin. In eight or ten days the skin sloughs off centrally 
over this hard spot, leaving a bloody, bruised-like surface. This 
rapidly grows in size till in a few weeks there is a raw surface from 
four inches to afoot square. This oozes blood and serum but no pus. 
An examination will usually show a mass of yellow, gritty growth, 
coral-like in shape, embedded in a mass of bruised, bloody tissue, 
dark in color with the edges roughened, elevated above the skin, 
and the skin decaying at the outside of the ulcer. The leech invades 
almost any tissue, but seems most common on the legs, abdomen 
and sides. Occasionally it is found in the head. The invaded 
tissues decay slowly and apparently without pain. I have seen hoofs 
cut off, the abdomen opened, the eyes eaten out and the teeth de- 
stroyed.” 
*It seems to be true that an entirely different affection is known by the same name 
in the northern portion of the United States. The term “Leeches”’ is also applied 
to the condition following the invasion of the liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) . 
