The Flying Dragons, those terrible creatures described by the older naturalists, are undoubtedly fabulous and, indeed, impossible creatures, and either entirely products of the imagination of the vulgar, or founded upon specimens manufactured for the express purpose of taking in the naturalist, who, in old times, was a little too ready to believe in wonders of this kind. The wings of a bat attached to a body and legs made up from half a dozen animals would furnish a capital Dragon in former times. Modern naturalists apply the name of Dragon to some little lizards inhabiting the East Indies, and which have none of those terrible qualities ascribed to the fabled monsters of antiquity. They are related to the Iguanas, but have on each side of the body a membranous expansion, stiffened by the prolongation into it of the first six false ribs; this acts as a sort of parachute, and enables the little creatures, not to fly, but to leap or glide through the air to considerable distances between one tree and another. They live entirely in trees, and feed on insects.
The Chameleon is a small animal, about ten inches long, and its tail nearly the same length. Its body is covered with small compressed scaly granules; its back is edged, and its tail round, long, and tapering. Its feet have each five toes, which are situated three one way and two another, in order to enable it to lay firm hold of the branches: but wherever it happens that these are too large for the animal to grasp with its feet, it coils round them its long, prehensile tail, and fixes its claws strongly into the bark. When walking on the ground, it steps forward in an extremely cautious manner, seeming never to lift one foot until it is well assured of the firmness of the rest. From these precautions, its motions have a ridiculous appearance of gravity, when contrasted with the smallness of its size, and the activity that might be expected from an animal so nearly allied to some of the most lively in the creation. Though the Chameleon is repulsive in its appearance, it is perfectly harmless. It feeds only on insects, for which the structure of its tongue is well adapted, being long and protrusive, and furnished with a dilated, glutinous, and somewhat tubular tip. With this it seizes on insects with the greatest ease, darting it out and immediately retracting it, with the prey thus secured, which it swallows whole. The strange notion that Chameleons were able to feed on air, seems to have arisen merely from the circumstance of these animals, like all others of the lizard family, being able to subsist for a great length of time without food. The eyes of the Chameleon have the singular property of looking at the same instant in different directions; one of them may be seen to move when the other is at rest, or one will be directed forward, whilst the other is attending to some object behind, or in a similar manner upward and downward. It has the power of inflating its body to double its ordinary size, and at these times it is transparent. It can undoubtedly change its colour, but it is not true that it takes that of any object it may be near. On the contrary, its change of colour depends on its being exposed to a very strong light; and it only changes from its natural dull grey to a beautiful green, spotted unequally with red. Africa is the native country of the Chameleons, of which there are fourteen species; but two of them are found also in different parts of Asia and New Holland, and one (C. vulgaris) in the south of Europe; but this animal has never been found in any part of America.
This animal is frequently thirty feet long. The female lays its eggs in the sand, where they are hatched by the heat of the sun; and the mother is said to take no care of the young ones. The head of this species, as of all the true Crocodiles, is twice as long as it is broad; the snout is pointed and unequal, and the eyes, which are small, are placed very far asunder. The colour is a greenish bronze, speckled with brown, and of a yellowish green underneath: six rows of nearly equal-sized plates run along the back. This Crocodile is less ferocious than some of the other kinds, and, when taken young, may be tamed. It is common in Senegal and other parts of Africa, as well as in the Nile.
The method which the African adopts to kill this formidable creature displays considerable ingenuity and courage. Having wrapped a thick cloth round his arm, and provided himself with a long knife, he proceeds to the known haunt, usually a reedy swamp or river. The moment the Crocodile perceives him it rushes at him with open mouth, but is coolly received by its antagonist, who thrusts his covered arm between its jaws. The teeth cannot pierce through the thick folds of the cloth, so that his arm only gets a smart squeeze, and before the creature can disengage itself, he adroitly cuts its throat.
The Gavials have very long, slender snouts, and their hind feet are webbed to the ends of the toes. These animals grow to the length of twenty-five feet, and when large are as dangerous and destructive as the Nilotic Crocodile. They are found abundantly in the Ganges, and in the fresh waters of most parts of India and its islands.
A short time before M. Navarette was at the Manillas, he was told that, as a young woman was washing her feet at one of the rivers, an Alligator seized and carried her off. Her husband, to whom she had been but just married, hearing her screams, threw himself headlong into the water, and, with a dagger in his hand, pursued the robber. He overtook and fought the animal with such success as to recover his wife; but, unfortunately for her brave rescuer, she died before she could be brought to the shore.
The habits of the Alligator are much the same as those of the crocodile. The principal mark of distinction is, that the former has its head and part of the neck more smooth than the latter, and the snout is considerably more wide and flat, as well as more rounded at the extremity. The largest of these animals do not usually exceed eighteen feet. Alligators are natives of the warmer parts of America, and are the dread of all living animals. Their voracity is so great that they do not spare even mankind.
The voice of the Alligator is loud and harsh. They have an unpleasant and powerful musky scent. M. Pagés says, that near one of the rivers in America, where they were numerous, their effluvia was so strong as to impregnate his provisions, and even to give them the nauseous taste of rotten musk. This effluvium proceeds chiefly from four glands, two of which are situated in the groin, near each thigh, and the other two at the breast, under each fore leg. Dampier informs us that, when his men killed an Alligator, they generally took out these glands, and, after having dried them, wore them in their hats by way of perfume.
The following anecdote of the voracity of this animal is related by Waterton, in his “Wanderings in South America”:—“One Sunday evening, some years ago, as I was walking with Don Felipe de Ynciarte, governor of Angustura, on the bank of the Oroonoque, ‘Stop here a minute or two, Don Carlos,’ said he to me, ‘while I recount a sad accident. One fine evening last year, as the people of Angustura were sauntering up and down here, in the Alameda, I was within twenty yards of this place, when I saw a large Cayman rush out of the river, seize a man, and carry him down, before anybody had it in his power to assist him. The screams of the poor fellow were terrible, as the Cayman was running off with him. He plunged into the river with his prey: we instantly lost sight of him, and never saw or heard him more.’ ”
This animal has a small head, four feet, and a tail, which it can gather within the shell in such a way that the top and under part meet together, and so closely, that the greatest strength cannot separate them. The eye is destitute of an upper lid, the under one serving to defend that organ. The upper shell, composed of thirty-seven compartments, is convex, and so strong, that a loaded cart can pass over it without injuring the creature inside. In winter, Tortoises are said to bury themselves in the ground, or retire to some cavern or hole, which they line with moss, grass, and leaves, and where they pass in safe and solitary retirement the whole of this season. The Tortoise is very tenacious of life, and is no less remarkable for its longevity, as it is ascertained that one lived upwards of one hundred and twenty years in the garden of Lambeth Palace.
This animal is found in most of the countries near the Mediterranean Sea, in Corsica, Sardinia, and some of the islands of the Archipelago, as well as in many parts of the north of Africa.
Most of the Turtles are considered very delicate food, especially the green species. Some of them are so large as to weigh from four to eight hundred pounds. Dampier mentions an immensely large one that was caught at Port Royal, in the Bay of Campeachy. It was nearly six feet long, and four feet broad. A son of Captain Roch, a boy about ten years old, went in the shell, from the shore to his father’s ship, which was about a quarter of a mile distant.
Turtle generally ascend from the sea, and crawl on the beach, for the purpose of laying their eggs (which are as large sometimes as those of a common hen), sometimes to the number of fifty or sixty at a time. The young ones, as soon as they are hatched, crawl down to the water. Turtles are caught, when sleeping on land, by turning them on their backs; for as they cannot turn themselves over again, all means of escape is denied them. The lean of the Green Turtle tastes and looks like veal, without any fishy flavour. The fat is as green as grass, and very sweet. The introduction of Turtle as an article of food into England, appears to have taken place within the last eighty or ninety years. They are common in Jamaica, and in most of the islands of the East and West Indies. Green Turtles are sometimes caught on the shores of Europe, driven thither by stress of weather. In the year 1752, one, six feet long and four feet broad, weighing between eight and nine hundred pounds, was caught in the harbour of Dieppe, after a storm. In 1754, a still larger one, upwards of eight feet long, was caught near Antioche, and was carried to the Abbey of Longveau, near Vannes, in Brittany; and in the year 1810, a small one was caught amongst the submarine rocks near Christchurch, in Hampshire.
The reader will remember how delighted Robinson Crusoe was to find a large Turtle which, he says, contained three score eggs. Behold him dragging it home.
Has received its name from the peculiar formation of the upper jaw, which terminates in a curved point, like the beak of a bird of prey. It is smaller than the Green Turtle, the largest specimens being about three feet in length. Its flesh is a very indifferent, if not unwholesome, article of food; but the horny plates with which its back is covered, and which lie over one another like the slates on the roof of a house, are beautifully mottled, and constitute the well-known tortoiseshell of commerce, which is so much used for making combs and various ornamental articles. It is only the best kind of tortoiseshell, however, that is taken from the Hawk’s-bill Turtle. The shell that is usually seen is taken from commoner kinds. A very large quantity of tortoise-shell is imported into Europe every year, and the traffic in it forms a very important part of the trade of those countries in which turtles abound.
Has its back covered with a sort of leathery skin, instead of the horny plates of the other turtles. It is a very large species, measuring eight feet or more in length, and weighing as much as a thousand pounds. It is chiefly found in the Mediterranean; it is, however, occasionally found on the other coasts of Europe, and a few specimens, some of them weighing seven or eight hundred pounds, have been caught in England. The flesh is not considered good, and in some cases great suffering has been occasioned by eating it. In 1748, a Leathery Turtle, which had been caught near Scarborough, was purchased by a gentleman, who invited several friends to taste it. Though warned that the flesh was unwholesome, one of the guests ate some, but was seized soon after with dreadful sickness. This should be a warning to the curious to be careful how they “eat strange flesh.”
Who that sees the beauty and delicacy of pearls would imagine that they were the production of disease? Such, however, is the case, as they are either formed in the body of the oyster which inhabits the shell; or they rise from cracks in the shell itself, the delicate, silvery, half-transparent lining of which forms the substance generally called Mother-of-Pearl, or Nacre. Their formation is generally caused by the introduction of some foreign body between the mantle or skin of the animal and its shell; the irritation thus produced causes successive coats of pearly matter to be deposited on the intruding object, and thus the pearl is formed. The best pearls are those which are fairly imbedded in the substance of the mantle. These shells are found in the Persian Gulf and at Ceylon, where they form an important article of commerce.
The Chinese form pearls by casting into the shell of a certain kind of muscle artificial beads, which at the end of a year become covered with a pearly crust, in such a manner that they cannot be distinguished from the natural pearl.[C]
[C] For a very interesting article on this subject, see Beckmann’s “History of Inventions,” vol. i. p. 259. (Bohn’s Standard Library.)
Has long been in favour with man for its delicacy as an article of food; the Lucrine lake used to be as much in renown among the Romans for the choicest kind of Oysters, as Cancalle Bay with the French, and the Colchester beds with us. The two shells of the Oyster are generally unequal in size; the hinge is without teeth, but furnished with a somewhat oval cavity, and generally with lateral transverse grooves. Oysters sometimes grow to a very large size; in the East Indies they are said sometimes to measure nearly two feet in diameter.
The principal breeding season of oysters is in the months of April and May, when they cast their young, which are enveloped in slime, and in this state called spats by the fishermen, upon rocks, stones, shells, or any other hard substance that happens to be near the place where they lie; and to these the spats immediately adhere. Till they obtain their film or crust, they are somewhat like the end of a candle, but of a greenish hue. The substances to which they adhere, of whatever nature, are called cultch. From the spawning time till about the end of July, Oysters are said to be sick; but by the end of August they become perfectly recovered; from May till August they are out of season and unwholesome. The Oyster-fishery of our principal coasts is regulated by a court of admiralty. In the month of May the fishermen are allowed to take the Oysters, in order to separate the spawn from the cultch, the latter of which is thrown in again, for the purpose of preserving the bed for the future. After this month it is felony to carry away the cultch, and otherwise punishable to take any Oyster, between whose shells, when closed, a shilling will rattle. The reason of the heavy penalty on destroying the cultch is, that when this is taken away, muscles and cockles will breed on the bed; and, by gradually occupying all the places on which the spawn should be cast, will destroy the Oysters.
The Oyster has been represented, by many authors, as an animal destitute not only of motion, but of every species of sensation. It is able, however, to perform movements which are perfectly consonant to its wants, to the dangers it apprehends, and to the enemies by which it is attacked. The gills, through which the Oyster breathes, are what is commonly called the beard, and are very indigestible. The scallop is nearly allied to the Oyster.
Few of our shell-fish are more common, in inlets and bays near the mouths of rivers, than these. In such situations they are usually found immersed at the depth of two or three inches in the sand, the place of each being marked by a small, circular, depressed spot. When they open their shells, the entrance into them is protected by a soft membrane, which entirely closes up the front, except in two places, at each of which there is a small, yellow, and fringed tube; by means of which they receive and eject the water which conveys to their body the nutriment necessary for their support.
Cockles are in great request as food among the labouring classes, and are caught chiefly in the winter months. Their size varies from five or six inches to half an inch in diameter. The shell is generally white; it has twenty-six longitudinal ridges, is transversely wrinkled, and has somewhat imbricated striæ. The foot of these animals is largely developed, and is to them a most important organ, as they use it not merely for progression, but in the excavation of hollows in the sand or mud in which they dwell.
The Chama, which is akin to the cockle, was used by the ancients to engrave various figures upon, from which circumstance those small bas-reliefs, so valued now, have obtained among the Italians and collectors the name of Cameos. The shells of some of these are decorated with red or yellow stripes, diverging from the hinge, and spreading to the edges. The Giant Chama has been found to weigh more than five hundred pounds, and the oyster-like animal within was large enough to furnish a meal for twenty men. The animals which inhabit these shells are sometimes called Clams. The shells are often used in Catholic countries for containing holy water.
This is a shell of a rather elongated form, gaping at both ends, and terminated in front by a point; it is white and chalky in its appearance, and the anterior end is roughened by numerous sharp spines and tubercles. The animal which inhabits this shell bores deeply into the rocks of the sea-shore, forming cylindrical holes, in which it lives; and the water which it requires for its food and respiration is conveyed to and from the interior of the shell by a pair of tubes which reach to the outer orifice of its dwelling-place. It is supposed that the Pholas is enabled to bore into the hard rock by means of its large and strong foot, but this is still a matter of dispute.
There are many other boring shells, most of which are related to the Pholas. Some of them burrow in rocks, others in wood, and some indifferently in either material. Of the wood-borers, the most remarkable is the Ship Worm (Teredo navalis), which penetrates deeply into floating or submerged timber, and lines the cavity of its burrow with a coating of shell. In this way the Teredo has often done much injury to piles and other woodwork exposed to the sea, and in 1731 and 1732 it excited so much alarm in Holland by attacking the piles of the great dikes, that even statesmen condescended to study its natural history. We must remember, however, that in the grand economy of nature even this destructive creature has its use; by penetrating in every direction through any floating mass of timber it promotes the breaking up of the latter, and prevents the surface of the sea from being encumbered with quantities of wreck.
Like the oyster, the Mussel inhabits a bivalve shell, to which it adheres by a strong cartilaginous tie. The shells of several of the species are beautiful. The Mussel possesses the property of locomotion, which it performs with the member called its tongue, by which it gets hold of the rock, and is enabled to draw itself along; it has also the property of emitting a kind of thread, called the byssus, which, fixing the sides of the shell upon the ground, answers the purpose of a cable, to keep the body of the fish steady.
One of the cone-shells, the inhabitant of which is a kind of snail, with a very distinct head. If nature has taken a delight in painting the wings of birds, the skins of quadrupeds, and the scales of fishes, she seems not to have been less pleased in pencilling the shells of these inhabitants of the deep. The variety, brightness, and versatility of the colouring have long been deservedly the object of man’s admiration; and we cannot help being astonished at the richness which a cabinet of well-selected shells presents to the eye.
The Cowries or Porcelain shells are amongst the most beautiful of the univalves. The shells are generally of an elegant oval form, with no visible spire; the mouth is a long slit on the middle of the lower surface, with two nearly equal lips toothed along their margins; the surface is most beautifully polished, and generally adorned with rich colours, arranged in varied and elegant patterns. The Tiger Cowry, which is one of the commonest, is rather broad, and very convex; it is of a white colour, covered with numerous dark brown spots. It is usually four or five inches in length, and inhabits the seas of India. The Money Cowry (Cypræa moneta) is a little Indian species, which is used in place of money in some countries, especially the interior of Africa. It is imported into England for exportation to Africa in large quantities; as much as 300 tons having been landed at Liverpool in one year.
Is a common British shell-fish of considerable size, which is obtained in large quantities by dredging, and used as food. In London it is sold commonly at stalls in the streets, we believe in a pickled state. The mouth of this animal is furnished with a powerful rasping proboscis, by means of which it is able to bore through the shells of other mollusca.
So called on account of the length of a prominency coming out of the shell. It is surrounded with blunt prickles, and the colour of the whole is elegantly variegated.
Is too well known to require any description. It is found in incalculable numbers all round the European coasts, and captured in immense quantities as an article of food.
The shape of this shell is pyramidal; it adheres to the rock with such strength, that it can only be removed by means of a knife or a strong blow. The apex of the shell is sometimes sharp, sometimes obtuse, and often surrounded with points and sharp prickles. When thoroughly cleansed the shell is generally of a beautiful purple tint of great brilliancy, though the animal that lives under this magnificent roof is a kind of snail, disagreeable to the eye and insipid to the palate. They are found on the rocks, which are incessantly beaten by the surges and breakers, on the sea-shores of almost every country in the world. It is not by any glutinous liquid, as it has been asserted, that this fish adheres so strongly to the rock; but by the simple process of producing a vacuum between its foot and the rock to which it affixes itself.
The variety which is thrown into the sum of animated beings is so wonderfully great, that naturalists have reckoned more than a hundred and twenty-nine species of Limpets, and nearly allied genera; the difference arising principally out of the diversity of the shells in form and colour.
Is furnished with four tentacula, two of which are smaller than the others; at the end of these tentacula, which the animal pushes out or draws back, like telescopes, are blackish knobs, which are the eyes. The snail lays eggs, which are about the size of small peas, semi-transparent, and of a soft substance. By closely examining with a magnifying lens the eggs which a Water Snail, kept in a bottle of water, had deposited against the glass, the young Snail was seen in the egg, with its embryo shell on its back; two have also been observed in one egg, each of them with the rudiments of the shell.
The Garden Snail is extremely tenacious of life, and remains in a state of torpor during the winter. It is said, indeed, that it can remain in this state for many years, and the following instance is probably without parallel in any other animal:—Mr. S. Simon, a merchant of Dublin, whose father, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a lover of natural history, left him a small collection of fossils and other curiosities, had, among them, the shells of some Snails. About fifteen years after his father’s death, he gave to his son, a child of ten years old, some of these Snail-shells to play with. The boy placed them in a flower-pot, which he filled with water, and the next day put them into a basin. Having occasion to use this, Mr. Simon observed that the animals had come out of their shells. He examined the child respecting them, and was assured that they were the same which had been in the cabinet. The boy said he had a few more, and brought them. Mr. S. put one of these into water, and, in an hour and a half afterwards, observed that it had put out its horns and body, which it moved but slowly, probably from weakness. Major Vallancy, Dr. Span, and other gentlemen, were afterwards present, and saw one of these Snails crawl out; the rest being dead, probably from their remaining some days in the water. Similar observations have since been so frequently repeated, that there is now no doubt that Snails of various kinds may retain their vitality for years when preserved in a dry state.
Resembles a Snail in all points except that it has no shell, consequently the brown skin of the back is rougher and stronger than that of the Snail. Its progress on the ground may easily be traced by the slime which it leaves in its track. Few animals are more destructive to vegetation than these.
Is a well-known inhabitant of our fields and meadows, during the summer season. The country people consider its appearance as an indication of approaching rain; but this is rather to be accounted for by the moisture of the ground and plants. Indeed, it very seldom appears abroad during dry weather. The Black Slug feeds on the leaves of different kinds of plants.
The structure of these animals is very remarkable. Their body is nearly cylindrical, and, in some of the species, entirely covered with a fleshy sheath; in others the sheath reaches only to the middle of the body. They have eight arms, or rather legs, and in general two feelers, much longer than the arms. Both the feelers and arms are furnished with strong circular cups or suckers. The mouth is hard, strong, and horny, resembling in texture the beak of the parrot. The body is of a jelly-like substance, and usually covered with a coarse skin, having the appearance of leather. This skin contains cells of different colours, which are capable of changing their relative position, so that the Cuttle-fish is able to change the colour of its skin. By means of the numerous circular cups or suckers with which the arms are furnished, they seize their prey, and firmly attach themselves to the rocks. Their adhesive power is so great, that it is generally more easy to tear off the arms than to separate them from the substance to which they are affixed: if the arms happen to be broken off, they are soon reproduced. The size to which this creature grows has been variously stated; and, although evidently exaggerated by some authors, it undoubtedly attains to a very considerable magnitude. When attacked in its own element, it has been known to overcome a large dog. Its jaws are extremely strong and powerful, and with its beak it can crush in pieces the shells of the fish on which it feeds. In the body is a bladder filled with a dark inky fluid, which it emits when alarmed, and which not only tinges the water so as to conceal its retreat, but is so bitter as immediately to drive off its enemies. This inky fluid, when dried, forms a very valuable colour, used by artists, and known as Sepia.
The bone, or calcareous plate of the Sepia Officinalis, a species common on our coasts, is a well-known substance, and is much employed in the manufacture of toothpowder; and by silversmiths for moulds, to cast their small work, such as rings, &c. It is also converted into that useful article of stationery, called pounce.
Has only eight arms, the two long tentacles of the Sepia being absent. It is found on our coasts, and is especially abundant in the Mediterranean, where it is regularly brought to market as an article of food.
Is a kind of Poulpe, in which only six of the arms present the ordinary form, the other pair being expanded into broad, flat organs. It was supposed by the ancients, and, indeed, until very recently, that these expanded arms were used by the animal as sails; it was described as floating at the surface of the sea, with the back of the shell downwards, the six arms sticking into the water like so many oars, and the two broad members elevated to catch the breeze; but it is now known that the so-called sails are used to embrace the shell when the animal is swimming backwards, in the same way as its allies, and it also appears that it is by these arms that the shell is enlarged. The Argonaut is found in the Mediterranean.
Is a very different creature, and instead of the eight arms of the Argonaut has its head surrounded by numerous ringed and sheathed tentacles. It is remarkable for the structure of its shell, the cavity of which is divided into numerous chambers by transverse partitions; these chambers, of which the outermost alone is occupied by the animal, are filled with air, but a narrow tube passes through the whole of them, and communicates with the cavity of the body. By this arrangement the Nautilus is enabled to alter his specific gravity so as either to rise to the surface or sink to the bottom of the water. The few existing species of Nautilus are all found in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans.
These creatures constitute a class by themselves, under the name of Annelida, in the works of modern naturalists. They are distinguished from the caterpillar and maggot, by undergoing no change, and crawling by means of the annular structure of their bodies.
The Earth Worm has neither bones, eyes, or ears; it has a round, annulated body, with generally an elevated fleshy belt near the head. Though considered a great nuisance by gardeners, Earth Worms perforate, and loosen the soil, and render it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing into it straws and the stalks of leaves: and chiefly by throwing infinite numbers of lumps called worm-casts, which form a fine manure for grass and corn. They are, however, very injurious to plants in pots.
Is about three inches in length, and in its exterior form somewhat resembles the worm, when extended, but often contracts itself greatly in length, at the same time expanding in thickness. It has a small head, a black skin, with six yellow lines above, and spotted with yellow below. The mouth of the Leech is of curious construction; it has three jaws, each of which is armed with two ranges of very fine teeth, with which it pierces the skin; and then draws up, as through a siphon, the blood, upon which it feeds. The progressive movement of the Leech is effected by sticking, by suction, its mouth to a certain spot, then bringing its tail, which also has the property of sticking, in the same manner as the head, and then advancing its head further on, quickly followed by the tail, and so on. The common Leech is very often met with in brooks and rivulets. Its uses in medicine are well known, as by its means the blood can be extracted from diseased parts, to which the lancet cannot be applied.
The blood which the Leech sucks out of the wound it makes supplies it with nutriment for so great a period of time, that a Leech, after having been satisfied with blood, has been known to live three years without any food. It is usual, however, to make them disgorge the greater part of the blood they have swallowed by sprinkling them with salt; as otherwise they would not bite again till the blood they had taken was fully digested.
Leeches lay eggs, which are covered with a kind of membrane, which serves to protect them when they are deposited in the clay and holes in the sides of ponds. They appear to live on the eggs of fish or frogs, but eagerly attach themselves to the legs of human beings, horses, or cows, whenever they have an opportunity. As there is a prejudice among the country people that Leeches never breed well till they have tasted blood, it is said that they drive their horses and cows into the water inhabited by the Leeches, and consequently that the Leech districts are remarkable for their wretched-looking horses and cattle. Leeches must be five years old before they are fit for medical purposes; and they are caught in shallow water in spring by people going in with naked feet and ankles, to which the Leeches adhere, when they are picked off and put in baskets provided for the purpose. In summer a raft is made of twigs, and the waters being disturbed with a stick, the Leeches rise to the surface, and get entangled in the raft. When caught, they are washed in water with a very little salt in it, and packed in wet linen cloths, which are put into a barrel with a canvas cover, and sent away for sale. London used to be chiefly supplied from the fenny districts of Lincolnshire, but the consumption of these useful worms has been so great that most of our Leeches are now imported through Hambro’ from the east of Europe. Some years since Dr. Pereira stated that the number of Leeches imported by the four principal dealers in London amounted to 7,200,000 annually. They are also, when kept in a glass bottle with water, a good barometer, as they always come up to the neck of the bottle when rainy weather is approaching, remain at the bottom in dry weather, and move anxiously up and down when the weather is stormy. Horse-Leeches are larger than the common species, more voracious, and narrower at each extremity.