PRODUCTION  OF  LEECHES  IN  MICHIGAN. 
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THE  PRODUCTION  OF  LEECHES  IN  MICHIGAN. 
By  Frederick  Stearns. 
The  great  cost  of  imported  leeches,  and  their  liability  to 
accident  and  disease,  have  proved  a  serious  drawback  to  their 
general  use  in  this  country,  more  especially  in  interior  towns 
and  cities,  where  the  delay  incident  to  transportation  is  another 
objection  to  the  purchase  and  sale  of  them  by  the  pharmaceutist. 
I  believe  that  large  dealers  in  leeches  in  the  country  confine 
themselves  solely  to  the  importation  of  those  of  foreign  collec- 
tion, and  that  our  indigenous  varieties,  some  of  them  valuable^ 
are  entirely  neglected. 
I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Association  to  the  fact, 
one  proved  by  an  experience  of  twenty  years  that  by  means  and 
appliances  so  simple  as  to  commend  them  to  pharmaceutists  in 
every  part  of  our  Union,  we  may  insure  to  ourselves  an  abundant 
and  cheap  supply  of  these  invaluable  animals. 
The  foreign  varieties  of  leeches  can  be  easily  naturalized,  and 
the  supplies  of  those  indigenous  varieties  found  valuable,  can 
be  indefinitely  increased. 
The  idea  of  growing  leeches  in  the  State  of  Michigan  was  first 
carried  out  by  a  member  of  the  medical  profession,  who  moved 
there  from  New  York  city  some  twenty  years  ago,  while  that 
portion  of  his  adopted  State  was  yet  a  wilderness.  Feeling  the 
want  of  leeches  which  he  had  freely  used  in  his  eastern  practice., 
he  was  led  to  experiment  with  those  found  in  the  neighboring 
marshes,  with  indifferent  results.  He  finally  procured  in  New 
York  a  lot  of  Spanish  leeches,  and,  building  a  tank  for  them, 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them  thrive  admirably,  and  to  this 
time  has  produced  them  in  larger  quantities,  sufficient  to  supply 
the  practitioners  of  his  portion  of  the  State.  The  « Hirudo 
decora,"  a  leech  found  abundantly  in  some  parts  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  in  this  way  introduced,  and  is  now  largely  used  in 
some  counties  of  the  State, 
The  "aquarium  "  required  consists  of  a  wooden  tank  eight 
feet  long,  six  feet  wide  and  four  feet  deep  ;  this  is  set  into  the 
ground  near  a  running  stream  of  water,  a  portion  of  which  is 
conducted  into  and  through  the  tank,  its  entrance  and  exit  be- 
ing made  through  wire  cloth  to  prevent  the  escape  of  leeches. 
The  bottom  of  the  tank,  to  the  depth  of  eighteen  inches,  is  covered 
