470 Veterinary Medicine. 



dislike of the toad comes from its warty repulsive skin, and it is 

 from the cutaneous glands that the poison is secreted. The secre- 

 tion is an acrid fluid which becomes more abundant when the 

 toad is excited, and some horsemen have tied a live toad on the 

 skin covering a spavin or ringbone to secure a local blistering 

 action. As occurring casually it is only in very exceptional cir- 

 cumstances that the skin of domestic animals would suffer in this 

 way, and when this does occur a soothing ointment (zinc and 

 vaseline) is all that is demanded. 



LEECHES. 



Family characters : Triradiate mouth with crests or jaws, making a trian- 

 gular wound. Hermaphrodite. Medicinal leech . In ditches and ponds 

 with pure water, vegetable growth and muddy bottom ; common officinal 

 form is the Green leech. Trout leech : In fresh running water in N. Africa. 

 Common American leech : Bluish, 22 reddish spots on back ; found in run- 

 ning fresh waters. Horse leech : Back greenish brown, belly reddish, lat- 

 eral marginal orange bands ; common in Europe, Syria, N. Africa, and N. 

 America. Mature leeches in mud, young, swimming, attack man and beast, 

 fastening themselves to lips, nose, gums, tongue, soft palate, pharynx, pos- 

 terior nares, larynx, trachea or stomach, drawing blood. Aulastomuin 

 Gulo, and Nephelis Vulgaris, in ponds in England. Land leeches : Hcsma- 

 dipsia Ceylonica : Hirudo Tagala, like knitting needle, live under leaves, 

 in Java, Sumatra, Australia, Malay Peninsula, Burmah, China, Japan, Chili 

 and Brazil ; are most voracious in wet weather. Blind leeches : Cyliobdella 

 lumbricoides, of Brazil, climb on vegetation in wet weather and attack ani- 

 mals. Sym,ptom.s : On limbs, as needle-like leeches gorge themselves they 

 stand out in clusters on the bloody limbs. In mouth, nose and pharynx, 

 bleeding from nose, or on lips during work, leeches found on careful exam- 

 ination of mouth, etc. In nasal fossce and pharynx, cause nasal bleeding, 

 sneezing, snuffling, cough. In larynx, cause dyspnoea. On conjunctiva or 

 vagina, local inflammation and bleeding. Often present in large numbers 

 in small animals, causing emaciation and death. Treatm.ent : Pinching the 

 tail pick off ; in mouth, seize through towel ; clip in two ; salt the leech ; 

 whalebone stafE, with sponge charged with salt, benzine, chloroform, ether. 

 Generous feeding ; tonics. Prevention : Cultivation, drainage ; thick ban- 

 dages on legs ; bag on mouth when drinking ; stock infested waters with 

 eels. 



Leeches belong to the annelid family Gnathobdellidse, from 

 gnathos a jaw (greedy mouth) and bdella a. leech or lamprey. 

 They are usually spindle-shaped, but narrowing more toward the 



