200 
ir i r 
matter. The {mailed leech he ever law was Tent to him 
o.ut of Wales, in July 1808. On mod carefully weighing 
it, he found it to balance half a grain ; but it died in con - 
fequence of the fevere froft in the latter end of December 
following, when, on fubjefting it to the balance again, 
he could not difcoverin it any variable change of weight. 
Mr. Hebb has al ; fo remarked, that the medicinal leech 
is fubjeft to a difeafe of a moll ratal nature; and by which 
he lod, in July 1809, upwards of three hundred of them. 
This difeafe has been noticed by Dr. Fergufon of Aber¬ 
deen, and by tome others. Leeches, when afflicted with 
it, appear languid, and give, rapidly, a high degree of 
colour to the water in which they are placed ; and, if it 
be not frequently changed, a bloody tinge will enfue, 
their bellies become hollow, and they foon die.- When 
dead, they are unui'ually rigid, and,generally full of hard 
knots. Where this difeafe has broken out to any extent, 
Mr. Hebb never knew one of them to recover. Its caufe 
feems at prefent to be wholly unknown. May it not arife 
from their being kept in hard,and bad water? or may it 
not arife from fonie unfavourable date of the atmofphere ? 
Whatever be the caufe, it feems involved in impenetrable 
■obfcurity. No reafon for it has been as yet difcovered ; 
but the bed preventive is faid to be, to keep the leeches 
in but fmall numbers together, fo as to prevent the pro¬ 
pagation of the malady, fhould it break out among a few. 
Mr. Hebb, however* tried this method without the linalfed 
fuccefs; he divided a hundred leeches, on the 31ft of 
May 1809, into twelve diderent parcels, and placed the 
veflels in two rooms of different temperature; the difeafe, 
liotwithdanding, took place in each veffel about the lame 
time in July following, and they all died in a few days 
after. 
IIIRUNDINA'RIA, f. in botany. See Asclepias, 
and Lysimachia nummularia. 
HLRUN'DO,yi in ornithology, a genus of birds of the 
order of pafferes; the characters of which are as follovv : 
Bill fmall, curved, fubuiate, depveffed at the bafeygape 
larger than the head; tongue fhort, broad, cleft; wings 
long; tail modly forked. The fwallow appears to have 
been known in all ages and countries. In Hebrew it is 
named agur,fits, chauraf, thartaf. chatas, chataf ; in Greek 
the fwallow is denominated p/E^ioW, derived perhaps from 
the cheek, and Smv, to whirl; alluding to their 
rapid dutter, and the continual motion of their bill. 
It had the epithets xufJtXr,, chatterer; oAc hvyvv, moaner; 
avy.vrrlst>Y), fwift-winged. The Latin hirundo was fifd writ¬ 
ten he/undo, and evidently borrowed from In Ita¬ 
lian it is termed rondina, rondinella, ccfila ; in Spanidi, golon- 
drina, andorinha ; in German, J'chwalbe-, in fchdtalm ; 
in FlemilhjyhWa/r; in Swedilh fwala ; in Polilh, jajhot'/ia. 
The Englllh word fwallow perhaps comes from the verb, 
but more probably from the German fchwalbe, which is 
foftened in the parent Saxon into fwalc. The French 
■hirondelle is evidently formed from the Latin hirundo. 
Tliefe birds make their appearance in England early in 
Ipring, and difappear in autumn. They chiefly frequent 
moid and watery places, and ikim about near the furface 
in fearch of infefts, which they catch on the wing with 
great dexterity, by means of the enormous, gape of their 
jaws. There are thirty-eight fpecies now afcertained, and 
ciafied in two divilions, viz. 
I. Tpes three before, and one behind. 1. Hirundo ruf- 
tica, the domedic fwallow : front and chin chefnut; tail- 
feathers, except the two middle ones, with a white lpot. 
Bill black; body above blackifh-blue, beneath whitifh; 
tail very much forked ; legs ihort,'blackifh. Iiihabits al- 
mod every where ; frequents houfes, and u finally builds 
under the roof, or-in the chimney; leaves England in 
September, and previous to its departure affembles in vad 
docks on the tops of houfes, churches, and even trees; 
lays from four to fix white eggs lpeckled with red; is faid 
by the vulgar to prelage dormy weather if it flies, low : 
fix inches long. There is a variety of this bird with the 
l»bdy entirely white., 
11 I R 
а. Hirundo Tahitica, the Otaheite fwallow : blackifh. 
brown, with a blue giofs above ; front and neck beneath 
purple-tawny; belly and vent footy; tail, bill, and legs, 
black ; five inches long ; irides brown. 
3. Hirundo efculenta, the Javan fwallow: back blackifh, 
beneath'white; legs brown; all the tail-feathers With a 
white fpot. The lize of this fpqpies having been ques¬ 
tioned, the following extraft from the Tranfabtions of 
the Batavian Society in the illand of java, will place the 
matter in a proper point of view':—“The Hirundo efcu¬ 
lenta is of a blackifh-grey, inclining a little to green ; but 
on the back to the tail, as well as on the belly, this 
blackilh colour gradually changes into a moufe-colour. 
The whole length of the bird, from the bill to the tail, 
is near four inches and a half; and its height, from the 
bill to the extremity ‘of the middle toe, three inches and 
a quarter. The diftance from the tip of the one wing to 
that of the other, when extended, is ten inches and a 
quarter.” This account is confirmed by fir George Staun¬ 
ton, in his “ Embafly to China,” vol. i. p. 288. There is 
a finaller variety of this fpecies with a lpeckled bread, and 
white fpots on the tail-feathers; and this, though lefs nu¬ 
merous than the preceding, appears to have been the Hi¬ 
rundo efculenta originally defcribed by Limucus. Inhabits 
Java, China, and the iflands of the Indian Ocean ; builds 
in caverns of rocks, and makes its ned of gelatinous ma¬ 
rine fubftances, or of the fragments of the infefts which 
conditute their food; in fhape refembling an apple cut 
down the middle. Thefe nefts are efculent, and by the 
Chinefe, and luxurious Afiatics, are made into broths, or 
otherwife cooked, and regarded as one of the greated dain¬ 
ties Of the table. See an account of them, with the man¬ 
ner of cooking, under the article Birds-Nests, vol. ii 
p. 56 ; and this curious fpecies and its ned, correftly de¬ 
lineated in the annexed Engraving at fig. 1. 
4. Hirundo Borbonica, the wheat fwallow: blackifii- 
brown, beneath grey lpotted with brown; tail entire; 
three outer tail-feathers whitifh at the tips. Inhabits the 
Ide of France, and frequents fields fovvn with wheat 5 lays 
two eggs, grey lpotted with brown. 
5. Hirundo Francica, the grey-rumped fwallow: black¬ 
ifh above; beneath whitifh or grey. Inhabits the Hie of 
France: four inches and a quarter long. 
б. Hirundo Americana, the rufous-rumped fwallow .- 
blackilh-brown with a green glois; beneath whitiSi; rump 
and vent rufous ; quill-feathers whitifh ; chin rufous. In¬ 
habits South America: fix inches alid a half long. 
7. Hirundo urbica, the common martin: bluiih-black ; 
beneath white; tail-feathers without fpots; fometimes with 
the quill and tail-feathers tipt with white; bill black ; 
mouth yellow; rump white; legs covered with a diort 
white down. Inhabits Europe, and North America: five- 
inches and a half long ; builds under the eaves of houfes, 
but not in chimneys; eggs white. 
8 . Hirundo Panayana, the Panayan fwallow: black; 
beneath white; fpot on the front and chin rudy-yellow; 
collar black; Idler wing-coverts of a changeable violet- 
black. Inhabits the Philippine Idands. 
9. Hirundo rufii, the rufous-bellied fwallow : fhining 
black; beneath rufous; front whitifh; bill black; legs 
dufky-black. Inhabits Cayenne: five inches and a half 
long; affixes its ned to beams, which is lbmetim.es eigh¬ 
teen inches long. 
10. Hirundo Capenfis, the Cape fwallow : blackifh-blue; 
beneath,yellpwilh with blackilh ftreaks; cap rufous; la¬ 
teral tail-feathers with a white fpot; bill black; quill- 
feathers brown; with pale edges ; legs dufky-black. In¬ 
habits the Cape of Good Hope; leven inches long; builds 
often in houfes, and lays four or five fpotted eggs. 
11. Hirundo riparia, the land martin: cinereous; chin 
and belly whites bill blackilh; throat encircled with a 
moule-coloured ring; legs black, downy behind. Inha¬ 
bits Europe, and North America: four inche, and three 
quarters long; builds in holes in fknd-pits and banks,of 
livers.. .. 
j2. Hirundo 
3 ‘ 
