LAND-LEECHES 319 



Land-leeches. — Of perhaps greater importance, because far 

 less easy to avoid, are the attacks of the land-leeches of many 

 tropical countries. These leeches are found in Ceylon, Japan, 

 Sumatra, Phihppine and East Indian Islands, Australia, and the 

 humid mountain meadows of the Himalayas in India and of the 

 Andes in South America. Sir J. Emerson Tennent in his book 

 on " The Natural History of Ceylon " writes as follows: " Of 

 all the plagues which beset the traveler in the higher grounds of 

 Ceylon the most detested are the land-leeches, Hwmadipsa 

 ceylonica. They are not frequent in the plains, which are too 

 hot and dry for them, but among the rank vegetation of the 

 lower hill country, which is kept damp by frequent showers, 

 they are found in tormenting profusion. They are terrestrial, 

 never visiting ponds or streams. In size they are about an inch 

 in length and as fine as a common knitting needle, but they are 

 capable of distension till they equal a quill in thickness and at- 

 tain 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 or ankles, but ascend- 

 ing to the back or throat, and fastening on the tenderest parts 

 of the body. In order to exclude them the coffee planters who 

 live among these pests are obliged to envelope their legs in 

 " leech garters " made of closely woven cloth. The natives 

 smear their bodies with oil, tobacco ashes or lemon juice, the last 

 serving not only to stop the flow of blood, but also to expedite 

 the healing of the wounds. In moving, the land-leeches 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 approach of a passerby to a 

 spot which they infest, they may be seen amongst the grass and 

 fallen leaves on the edge of a native path, poised erect, and pre- 

 pared for their attack on man and horse. Their size is so in- 

 significant and the wound they make is so skillfully punctured 

 that both are generally imperceptible, and the first intimation of 

 their onslaught is the trickling of the blood or a chill feeling of 

 the leech when it begins to hang heavily on the skin from being 

 distended with its repast. Horses are driven wild by them and 

 stamp the ground in fury to shake them from their fetlocks, to 

 which they hang in bloody tassels. The bare legs of the palankin 

 bearers and coolies are a favorite resort, and as their hands are 



