146 HIRUDO MEDICINALIS. 



of vinegar upon its head,* When the leeches fall off, the bleeding 

 may be promoted, if necessary, by fomenting the part, or by the 

 application of a large cataplasm of bread or linseed meal. The 

 number of leeches that ought to be applied will vary according to 

 circumstances. As very few leeches can draw more than half a 

 fluid ounce of blood, in the adult, it will be seldom worth while to 

 apply a smaller number than ten or twelve, and the quantity may 

 be increased under particular circumstances to two or three dozen 

 or more. 



Dr. Davy, in his History of Ceylon, mentions a species of Leech 

 whose bite is frequently productive of dangerous and even fatal 

 consequences. It is a small animal, not more than half an inch in 

 length, of a brown colour, and marked with three longitudinal pale 

 yellow lines. It is peculiar to those parts of Ceylon which are sub- 

 ject to frequent showers, in mountainous situations. It delights in 

 damp shady places ; in dry weather it retires into the close damp 

 jungle, and only in rainy weather quits its cover, and infests the 

 pathways and roads in prodigious numbers. " Whether it is found 

 in any other country than Ceylon is not quite certain ; perhaps the 

 Leech of the mountainous parts of Sumatra, noticed in Mr. 

 Marsden's history of that island, is similar to it ; and it is not 

 unlikely that it occurs among the damp and wooded hills of the 

 south of India. Those who have had no experience of these ani- 

 mals — of their activity, keen appetite, and love of blood, can 

 have no idea of the kind and extent of annoyance they are 

 to travellers in the interior, of which they may be truly said to be 

 the plague. In rainy weather, it is almost shocking to see the legs 

 of men on a long march thickly beset with them, gorged with blood, 

 and the blood trickling down in streams. It might be supposed, 

 that there would be little difficulty in keeping them off; this is a 

 very mistaken notion, for they crowd to the attack and fasten on 

 quicker than they can be removed. I do not exaggerate when I 

 say, that I have occasionally seen at least fifty on a person at a 

 time. Their bites are much more troublesome than could be 



* Treatise on the Medicinal Leech, by J. Huwlins. Johnston, M. D. F.R.S. 



