Leech

Leech

by Kirk, Robert G. W.

Type Book
Rate 0.0 /5

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 bal…

Read More ↓
Details
Files
Reviews
Download

Title Statements

  • Full title :Leech / Robert G.W. Kirk and Neil Pemberton.

Summary

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.

Read More ↓

Edition Statements

  • Publication Date:2013.

Publication Statements

  • Publisher(s):Reaktion books
  • Place of Publication:London
  • Language:eng
  • Publication Date:2013.

The Physical Object

  • Description:1 online resource (208 pages) : : illustrations (some color), portraits

Edition Identifiers

  • ISBN:1780230680, 9781780230689, 9781299191099, 1299191096
  • oclc:ocn828720552
  • LC Classification:QL391.A6
  • Dewey Decimal:592.6/6

Table of Contents

Leech Cover; Imprint page; Contents; Introducing Leech; 1. Natural Leech; 2. Medical Leech; 3. Capitalist Leech; 4. Mechanical Leech; 5. Wild Leech; 6. Horror Leech; 7. Biomedical Leech; Concluding Leech; Timeline of the Leech; References; Select Bibliography; Associations and Websites; Acknowledgements; Photo Acknowledgements; Index.

Read More ↓

Subjects

Animals in literature Animals in motion pictures Animaux au cinéma Animaux dans la littérature Blutegel Human-animal relationships Iglar Illustrated works Invertebrates in art Leeches Leeches -- Social aspects Leeches -- Symbolic aspects Leeches -- Therapeutic use Leeching -- history Médecine dans la littérature Médecine et art Medicine and art Medicine in Literature Medicine in the Arts POPULAR SCIENCE

Writers

Kirk, Robert G. W. Pemberton, Neil

More from this Series

Rate & Review

0.0/5
(0 people Voted)

No reviews yet. Be the first to rate this work.

Files & Downloads

No downloadable files are registered for this work yet.