On a leech (Trocheta subviridis, Dutroch.) found in the viscera of a Moluccan deer (Cervus moluccensis, Müller) / by James Murie.

  • Murie, James.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On a leech (Trocheta subviridis, Dutroch.) found in the viscera of a Moluccan deer (Cervus moluccensis, Müller) / by James Murie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    curred in a female Yak that afterwards formed part of the Collection at Knowsley of the late Earl of Derby. The man in charge of the Yak, and who brought it to England, told Mr. Bartlett that for several weeks in the first part of the voyage the animal seemed to lose flesh fast, and altogether have the appearance of a wasting and decline. One afternoon while watching it, he was surprised to see a large Leech descend one of the nostrils and, curling itself round, proceed to ascend the other, when he seized it and withdrew it from the Yak's nose. He brought the Leech with him to England, and showed it to Mr. Bartlett, who supposes it to have been not much less than 9 inches long; but, not suspecting it to be an animal of spe- cial interest, he did not preserve the specimen. After the Leech had been abstracted from the Yak's nose, the latter animal seemed to thrive well, and it was afterwards landed in England in excellent condition. Since then, namely in June last, and soon after three Yaks had arrived at the Society's Gardens belonging to Mr. Stone, there was found in the water-trough where the newly imported Yaks drank, another large Leech, the same which I now exhibit, and which ap- pears also to be a specimen of Trocheta subviridis. Mr. Bartlett immediately suspected this must have come from one of the new animals; and his thoughts were so far verified, that Mr. Stone in- formed him that Leeches of a similar character had been discharged or obtained from the Yaks during the voyage. Although from what I have said it cannot be afiirmed with cer- tainty that this Leech does not belong to the British fauna, yet, with this somewhat contradictory testimony before us, it may be as well to suspend judgment until at least more accurate evidence is given, whether it has not thus casually been imported to these islands. My own belief, from the statements made, inclines me to the idea of its importation by the medium of some large animal—especially as I myself on one occasion took several small Leeches from the posterior nares of a large Hippopotamus killed by our party in the river Aye, an upper tributary of the White Nile—and also as several authorities have mentioned the occasional occurrence of Leeches in the nasal passages of other large animals. Apart from the decision of this point, it still remains undecided whether Trocheta subviridis is to be regarded as belonging to Bri- tain, or whether it has an Asiatic habitat*. M. Moquin-Tandon, p. 309, records it as being found in several places in France, as the district of the Loire, Toulouse, Dordogne, &c., also in the environs of Algiers, but he does not mention its geographical distribution to the East Indies. Respecting the name of this genus, in an article in the October number of the ' Natural History Review,' 1865, reviewing Dr. John- * In the discussion following the reading of this paper, Dr. Sclater stated that the Moluccan Deer had not been imported direct from the East, but had been received from the Zoological Society of Amsterdam. If so, it more readily ac- counts for this Continental species of Leech being now found in England, and, moreover, adds to the probability of a similar Eastern importation, [3]