1350

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDIC A.

which terms should, according to this writer, be substituted f° r

that

of

horse-leech; the daughters alluded to being Eden and Hell-Vulgate, Greek, and Lutheran translations, are all against hisBrandtof this

Bid

the

Greek, and Lutheran translations, are all against his °I }i j on{Med. Zool. ii. 231) has entered into a very elaborate dis cU *. ^subject, from which it appears that, in Arabic , the i f r oiH

d fr° lUbe

indicates a leech, while Aluk signifies fate : the latter being deriveAlaka, to attach or hang to, because every man’s fate is supposed ^appended to him, just as a leech affixes itself to the body ; so thatthis it appears probable the word “ Olukeh ,” of the Old T estaI ® c preally refers to leeches. Nay, I think there is some reason for s ^ AicSing that the Sanguisuga wgyptiaca is the species referred to. The lc .referred toby Herodotus ( Euterpe , lxviii.) are Bdella nilotica (SavigBut admitting that these animals were known at this early P erl ° ril \esdoes not appear that they were employed in medicine : for HipP° cmakes no mention of them, though he notices other modes of „ c tsblood. Aristotle also is silent with regard to them. In the ex

of D l0t . .

, the S'

■ e jlU

Cuvier (Regne Animal , t. iii. p. 212, nouv. ed. 1830) includes all leeches in fI ie r11 '1 i .- i: .- I.i— r....’..j _/_.i—. several S fl] lu-

lled by

Hirudoj but later naturalists have found it necessary to arrange them in sever

The leeches employed in medicine have been formed into a distinct genus, calie

dee*

hb

ancie " 1isOlb

1S —.— “6“

which Cailius Aurelianus has made from the writingsPraxagoras, Herophilus, Heraclides, Asclepiades , and otherphysicians, who lived between the time of Hippocrates and Tbm' 1 jpno mention is made of the employment of leeches; a remarkable J ^favour of the opinion that they were not at this period in use. ,| )0 sethe founder of the methodic sect, Themison , is the first person in v 'works we find mention of leeches being employed therapeutical sClerc, Hist, de la Medic, p. 442, Nouv. ed. 1729). However, 1 ( j 0 .

not follow that he was the first who prescribed them, though 0111cumentary evidence fails in tracing back their use beyond him- jpe

In the Latin and Greek languages, the animal has receivedfrom its sucking or drawing qualities. Thus the Greeks called it P j ra ,rfrom ficiWta, to suck; the Homans hirudo, probably from haurio, t°out; or sanguisuga, literally signifying “ a blood-sucker,” from s at jpand sugo. It would appear, however, that the latter of these t' v T °. j jpterms is the more modern; for Pliny {Hist. Nat. viii. 10. ed. "V Ppt,speaking of elephants, says, “ Cruciatum in potu maximum se ; >’hausta hirudine, quam sanguisugam vulgo ccepisse appellari adver ^

Zoology. Gen. Chau. — Jaws with two rows of pointed, nunteeth, which are mutually inclined at an acute angle, (Brandt, M^ a 'ii- 231.)

Body elongated. Back convex. Belly flat. Extremities s°narrowed, furnished with disks or suckers ; the anterior extremity . e <J.what narrower than the posterior one. Rings from ninety to a m t pEyes represented by ten blackish points. Mouth tri-radiate. ^ atV f oxX tl> 6laginous, armed with numerous cutting teeth. Anus small, placedorsum of the last ring

tlie . sk p r efci d ' :the T rt

All leeches, it appears, are not provided with an apparatus for perforatm , ^

tebrate animals. In consequence of the numerous complaints addressed! to t otb*Police, in 1825, that of the leeches sold in Paris some would not bite, vV hi) “caused painful and obstinate wounds, be consulted the Couseil de Sal “.I.estW' 1 ’ 6 ' 1puled MM. Pelletier and Huzard Ids, to inquire into the accuracy of th