536 
THE HORSE-LEECH. 
Every one who has had practical experience of Leeches, whether personally a sufferer or 
from seeing them applied to others, must have noticed the curious triangular wound which is 
made by the teeth. If the mouth of a Leech be examined, it will be seen to have three sets of 
minute and saw-like teeth, mounted on as many projections, which are set in the form of a 
triangle. The wound made by this apparatus is rather painful at the time, and is apt to be 
troublesome in healing, especially in the case of very thin-skinned persons, requiring the 
application of strong pressure and even the use of some powerful caustic. 
At one meal the Leech will imbibe so large a quantity of blood that it will need no more 
food for a year, being able to digest by very slow degrees the enormous meal which it has 
taken. It is a very remarkable fact, that the blood remains within the Leech in a perfectly 
unchanged state as tresh, as red, and as liquid as when it was first drawn — and even after 
the lapse of many months is found to have undergone no alteration. 
The very great difficulty in inducing a Leech to make a second meal is well known, and 
can be well accounted for by the fact that it has already taken enough food to support existence 
during one-sixth of its whole life. In Europe this is almost impossible, as the time occupied 
in reducing the Leech to the requisite state of hunger is so long that it more than counterbal- 
ances the value of the creature itself. “Use up, and buy more,” is the plan that is now 
pursued by the surgeon. 
The Leeches that are used in England are mostly imported from Brittany, where they live 
in great numbers and constitute an important branch of commerce, being sold by millions 
annually. The Leech-gatherers take them in various ways. The simplest and most successful 
method is to wade into the water and pick off the Leeches as fast as they settle upon the bare 
legs. This plan, however, is by no means calculated to improve the health of the Leech- 
gatherer, who becomes thin, pale, and almost spectre-like, from the constant drain of blood, 
and seems to be a fit companion for the old worn-out horses and cattle that are occasionally 
driven into the Leech-ponds in order to feed these bloodthirsty annelids. 
Another plan is to entangle the Leeches in a mass of reeds and rushes, and a third method 
is, to substitute pieces of raw meat for the legs of the man, and take off the Leeches as they 
gather round the spoil. This proceeding, however, is thought to injure the health of the 
Leeches, and is not held in much favor. 
Those who keep Leeches, and desire that they should be preserved in a healthy state, 
will do well to line the sides of the vessel with clay, and to place a bundle of moss, equisetum, 
and similar materials, with the annelids. These creatures are invested with a coat of slime, 
and, as is often the case with such beings, are obliged frequently to change their skin. This oper- 
ation is performed every four or five days, and is rather a troublesome one, unless the Leech 
be furnished with some such materials as have just been mentioned. Like the snake, when 
in the act of casting its slough, the Leech crawls among the stems of moss, and thus succeeds 
in rubbing off its cast garment. 
The Leech lays its eggs in little masses, called cocoons, each of which contains, on the 
average, from six to sixteen eggs. These cocoons are placed in clay banks, and are of rather 
large size, being about three-quarters of an inch in length. In some parts of France, attempts 
are made to rear the Leeches ; and it is found that these fastidious annelids will not lav their 
cocoons in small tanks, but require large reservoirs lined with clay and edged with weeds and 
other aquatic plants. 
I may perhaps mention that some European waters contain other species of blood-sucking 
Leeches, which are found mostly in still or stagnant waters, and invariably gather to a spot 
where the mud is thick, soft, and plentiful. One summer, while bathing, I waded through 
some mud in order to pick some very fine dewberries that were overhanging the bank, and 
when I began to dress found that my feet were covered with Leeches of different sizes. I 
counted eighteen on one foot, and then found that their numbers were so great that I 
ceased to count them. 
The common Hobse-leech, another example of this curious family, is plentiful in ditches 
and more sluggish rivers. This annelid is distinguished from the preceding by the character 
of its teeth, which are not nearly so numerous as in the medicinal leech, and much more blunt. 
