184 
VARIETIES. 
sufficient  of  itself  to  prevent  recovery;  and  fourthly,  that  innervation  is  still 
susceptible  of  re-excitation. 
In  conclusion,  I  will  state  that  in  my  last  paper  on  the  therapeutic  appli- 
cations of  this  agent  in  the  form  of  surcharged  liquid  more  especially,  I  in- 
advertently omitted  to  mention  a  peculiarity  in  its  physiological  action, 
which,  however,  might  be  anticipated  from  its  influence  over  the  contiguous 
renal  apparatus,  viz.,  its  stimulant  effect  on  the  generative  organs,  thus 
operating  as  an  aphrodisiac.  This  effect,  like  its  diuretic,  is  not,  however, 
constant  or  universal ;  yet,  nevertheless,  its  application  may  prove  useful  in 
atonic  states  of  this  apparatus.  With  respect  to  its  favorable  therapeutic 
influences  and  applications,  therein  detailed,  I  have  no  reason  to  change  my 
views,  further  experience  and  reflection  only  confirming  still  more  strongly 
all  former  observations  and  impressions. — Boston  Med.  and  Sur.  Jour.  Dec. 
Sth,  1852. 
Leeches. — A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times,  writing  from  Con- 
stantinople, gives  the  following  information : 
"  It  is  not  more  than  from  forty  to  fifty  years  that  leeches  have  been  in 
extensive  use  for  the  abstraction  of  blood  from  the  human  body,  and  for  many 
years  the  supply  from  the  ponds  of  each  country  was  sufficient  for  the  wants 
of  the  population.  But  as  the  use  of  them  increased,  superseding  so  often 
the  lancet  and  cupping,  the  leech  traders  turned  their  attention  to  procuring 
them  from  foreign  countries.  Twenty-five  years  since,  all  who  could  afford 
it  in  America  used  the  French  "  leech  in  preference  to  the  American  leech, 
because  it  would  draw  twice  or  thrice  as  much  blood.  But  none  the  less  a 
large  portion  of  the  leeches  exported  from  France,  have  been  brought  thither 
from  other  countries  on  the  Mediterranean. 
"  Leeches  for  Western  Europe  and  America  are  now  obtained  from 
Morocco,  Algiers  and  Tunis — from  Hungary  (which  sends  one  year  with 
another  120,000  pounds  of  leeches  annually,)  from  Russia,  and  from  Persia 
even.  A  trader  brought,  last  winter,  without  hardly  any  loss  by  the  perish- 
ing of  the  leeches,  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  leeches  from  the  latter  country. 
They  froze  solid  as  he  was  passing  the  lofty  mountains,  near  Erzroom,  but 
thawed  into  life  again.  The  obstacle  to  bringing  leeches  from  a  great  distance 
has  been,  that  they  were  so  liable  to  perish,  and  needed  so  much  care  and 
attention  on  the  voyage.  However  great  the  loss  and  the  consequent  rise  in 
price,  there  seems  no  limit  to  the  price  that  the  sick  are  willing  to  pay  for 
them.  Fifty  cents  is  often  paid  for  a  single  leech  in  our  country  towns.  And 
in  Peru,  in  South  America,  leeches  (brought,  perhaps,  from  Persia)  have 
sold  for  three  to  five  dollars  a  piece. 
"  The  product  of  the  leech  fisheries  in  Turkey,  is  at  present  annually 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  country.  One  reason  among  others,  for  this 
result,  is  the  want  of  cultivation,  and  the  amount  of  undrained  land  in  con- 
sequence on  a  sparsely  inhabited  country,  and  the  facilities  allowed  to  the 
Europeans  who  follow  the  business  and  have  the  protection  of  the  local  au- 
