Am,  Jour.  Pharm.  I 
September,  1902.  j 
Leech  Hirndo  or  Sanguisnga. 
423 
many  were  dead),  so  he  contrived  a  plan  to  make  a  tank  8  feet  long 
by  6  feet  wide  by  4  feet  deep,  placing  this  in  moist  or  marshy 
ground  near  a  stream  of  water,  putting  -about  9  inches  of  cobble 
into  the  tank  and  running  water  into  it,  so  that  it  was  kept  fresh, 
receiving  the  water  in  the  bottom  of  the  tank  with  an  outlet  near 
the  top.  Both  openings  had  to  be  protected  by  a  wire  cloth  or 
screen  to  keep  the  leeches  from  escaping.  He  put  some  leeches 
into  this  receptacle  and  soon  found,  with  a  little  attention,  that  he 
not  only  had  a  good  stock,  with  very  few  casualties,  but  made  quite 
a  business  of  raising  stock  for  sale.  The  cobblestones  placed  in 
the  bottom  of  the  tank  afford  refuge,  and  by  continual  contact  with 
the  stones  rids  them  of  the  slimy  deposit  that  seems  to  be  the 
natural  menace  infecting  them  and  causing  disease.  With  this  treat- 
ment and  a  few  frogs  occasionally  thrown  into  the  tank  about  once 
a  week,  feeds  and  sustains  them.  When  thus  cared  lor  they  breed 
freely,  produce  eggs  during  the  months  of  June  and  July  and  mature 
in  two  years,  increasing  the  family  very  rapidly.  When  ordinary 
care  is  given  they  thrive  and  live  fifteen  years. 
I  am  indebted  for  some  of  these  facts  to  a  paper  prepared  by  the 
Elder  F.  Stearns,  of  Detroit. 
Our  plan  has  been  to  keep  them  in  a  small  firkin  or  container  of 
peat  in  which  they  are  shipped,  until  they  show  signs  of  disease, 
when  they  are  transferred  to  a  porcelain  leech-jar  and  water  fre- 
quently renewed,  say  once  or  twice  a  week.  In  this  way  they  can 
be  kept  for  a  considerably  longer  time,  although  they  do  not  grow 
in  size,  and  unless  they  are  fed  they  seem  to  shrink  in  size.  Age, 
however,  does  not  depreciate  their  blood-sucking  powers,  as  very 
frequently  the  smaller  leech  is  as  vigorous  as  the  larger.  Where 
there  is  a  facility  for  so  doing  it  is  certainly  better  to  have  them 
kept  in  a  box  similar  to  the  one  described,  only  on  a  smaller  scale. 
Where  water  facilities  allow,  a  properly  arranged  aquarium,  in  which 
the  same  principle  can  be  applied  as  in  the  water-tank  referred  to, 
will  answer  all  purposes,  and  can  be  made  a  drug-store  counter 
attraction  as  well. 
In  conclusion,  we  affirm  that  leeches  at  50  cents  apiece  are  more 
profitable  than  paregoric  at  5  cents  per  fluid  ounce. 
