Leech finders

(Engraving of a painting by George Walker from ‘The Costume of Yorkshire in 1814’)

Here is another of George Walker’s illustrations. This one had the following text: ‘Leeches are now so much in demand that they are comparatively scarce though still found in many parts of Yorkshire. The women who collect them are principally from Scotland... They promenade bare-legged with considerable picturesque effect in the pools of water frequented by leeches. These little blood-suckers attach themselves to the feet and legs and are from thence transferred by the fair fingers of the lady to a small barrel or keg of water suspended at her waist.’

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) live in clear running water but in winter bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of pools then resurface in March/April and so the women leech finders would have arrived in Yorkshire in the warmer weather. Leeches were in such demand in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (era of the so-called ‘leech craze’) that efforts were made to increase the supply. Wild leeches did not satisfy demand and so leech farming in ‘leecheries’ began in specially built ponds in urban areas. This was not entirely successful as disease spread in the overcrowded ponds and they attracted predators and vermin. Demand was finally satisfied by importing leeches: 130,000 a month were imported to London alone by the 1840s. By 1863 some 7 million leeches were imported to London’s hospitals in one year. Individuals could buy leeches from chemists. An advertisement in the Yorkshire Gazette of 9 November 1844 offered: ‘Fresh Hamburg leeches 3/6 per dozen sold by J Glaisby chemist and druggist, 18 Church Street, York’. The Hamburg dealers obtained their leeches from the Ukraine and the Baltic area, for example.

Leeches were considered reliable and in some cases superior to the use of the lancet. The leeches’ slow and moderate appetite induced a ‘state of relaxation of the nervous energy of the body’. They were used for many conditions from headaches, gout and mumps to typhoid. In the case of typhoid leeches were applied to the temples ‘with a view to reducing the apparent inflammatory excitement of the brain’. One example of a local person endorsing the use of leeches came in 1834 when Sarah Monk wrote to her son, then Bishop of Gloucester, to approve of their use to improve his sight: ‘I am also very uneasy to learn that your eyes are again so painful – as to oblige you to have recourse to leeches – which however troublesome I believe to be a safe remedy and I earnestly pray it may prove so in the present instance’.  The amount of blood each leech could suck out was about a teaspoonful. When full, after about 15 minutes, the leech would naturally fall off. However, the amount could depend on the size of the leech and how much blood subsequently escaped from the wound. With careful handling, leeches could be reused every 8-10 days. Various medical books explained how to use leeches such as Richard Reece’s The medical guide for the use of clergy, heads of families and seminaries and junior practitioners in medicine published in London in 1833 (and now available on the Google Books website).

What was an ancient remedy, the use of leeches dating back 2,500 years, has once more found favour to assist with treating varicose veins, osteoarthritis and the aftermath of surgery for procedures such as skin grafting, for example. The medicinal leech in the wild is now a protected species. A licence from Natural England is even needed to carry out a survey of them. In the UK there remain only some 20 isolated populations of these leeches.  

See: Kirk, R.G.W., & Pemberton, N., ‘Re-imagining bleeders: The medicinal leech in the 19thcentury bloodletting encounter’, In Cambridge Journal Medical History, 2011, July 55 (3), pages 355-360, available on website ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3143864