Leeches (Hirudinea): Their Structure, Physiology, Ecology and Embryology presents a concise account of the vast knowledge, particularly in the realm of physiology of the Hirudinea. The text provides the various aspects of the life of leeches (Hirudenea). The first three chapters are devoted to the survey of the different families of leeches and the description of Hirudo medicinalis (Medicinal leech). The physiological aspects of leeches such as its circulatory and respiratory systems, muscles, nerves, sense organs, and reproductive processes are elaborated in detail in subsequent chapters. Leech nutrition, behavior, locomotion, and the ways in which the distribution and abundance of leeches is affected by factors of the environment, both living and non-living are elucidated as well. Zoologists will find the book very useful and informative.

"A remarkable accomplishment.... [This volume] has been and will continue to be a major force advancing freshwater fish parasitology."—Ernest H. Williams Jr., from the ForewordThis thoroughly revised and updated edition of a classic reference work is the definitive guide to the identification of the parasites of freshwater fishes of North America. The book provides information on public health concerns about fish parasites, the methods used to examine fish for parasites, and those parasites found only in very selective organs or tissues. It lists the known species of each genus, along with reference citations that enable readers to find literature pertinent to species identification, life cycles, and in some cases, control. In the heart of the book, each chapter opens with a description of a phylum and its relevant families and genera, followed by a species list for those genera. Drawings illustrate a representative of each genus, and are supplemented by photographic examples.Many new parasites of North American freshwater fishes have been discovered since the publication of the first edition thirty years ago. For this new edition, the author has added new species accounts and revised the taxonomy, expanded descriptions and discussion of the most important fish parasites, provided a glossary to aid nonspecialists, and updated the reference list through 1992. The volume features twice as many illustrations as the first edition, including the addition of 33 color photographs.

Armed with razor-sharp teeth and capable of drinking many times its volume of blood, the leech is an unlikely cure for ill health. Yet that is exactly the role this worm-like parasite has played in both Western and Eastern medicine throughout history. In this book, Robert G. W. Kirk and Neil Pemberton explore how the leech surfaces in radically different spheres. The ancients used them in humeral medicine to bring the four humors of the body—blood, phlegm, and black and yellow bile—back into balance. Today, leeches are used in plastic and reconstructive surgery to help reattach severed limbs and remove pools of blood before it kills tissue. Leeches have also been used in a nineteenth-century meteorological barometer and a twentieth-century biomedical tool that helped win a Nobel Prize. Kirk and Pemberton also reveal the dark side of leeches as they are portrayed in fiction, film, and popular culture. From Bram Stoker’s Dracula to a video game player’s nemesis, the leech is used to represent the fears of science run amok. Leech shines new light on one of humanity’s most enduring and unlikely companions.

In English speaking countries the leeches are a neglected group of animals. Very few zoologists study them and apart from the volume in the " Fauna of British India" series there is no book in English devoted to them. In Germany and the central European countries the Hirudinea are much better known. Antrum (1939) lists over 2500 research papers, most of them in German, and leech biology has been summarized in several extensive works. The purpose of this volume is to present a fairly concise account of the Hirudinea at a level appropriate to the honours student of zoology at a university. It is hoped that a summary of present knowledge, particularly in the realm of physiology, will also be of value to more senior zoologists, so references to the original papers have been given where appropriate. The guiding principle in determining to what extent the text need be interrupted by references has been that work summarized in the Hirudinea volume of Bronns: Klassen und Ordnungen des Tierreichs (1936-9) should be quoted without extensive references, while results published since 1939 and here reviewed for the first time should be fully documented...

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.