482 
ARTICULATA. 
[Chap. XIII. 
the approach of a passer-by 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 preparing 
for their attack on man and horse. On descrying their 
prey they advance rapidly by semi-circular strides, 
fixing one end firmly and arching the other forwards, 
till by successive advances they can lay hold of the 
traveller's foot, when they disengage themselves from 
the ground and ascend his dress in search of an aperture 
to enter. In these encounters the individuals in the 
rear of a party of travellers in the jungle invariably 
fare worst, as the leeches, once warned of their approach, 
congregate with singular celerity. Their size is so in- 
significant, and the wound they make is so skilfully 
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 by 
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 favourite re- 
sort ; and, as their hands are too much engaged to be 
spared to pull them off, the leeches hang like bunches 
of grapes round their ankles ; and I have seen the blood 
literally flowing over the edge of a European's shoe 
from their innumerable bites. In healthy constitutions 
the wounds, if not irritated, generally heal, occasioning 
no other inconvenience than a slight inflammation and 
itching; but in those with a bad state of body, the 
punctures, if rubbed, are liable to degenerate into 
ulcers, which may lead to the loss of limb or even 
of life. Both Marshall and Davy mention, that during 
