Transylvanian blood-suckers

Apothecary jar, for holding medicinal leeches, slip-cast earthenware, made by S. Maw and Son, London, England, 1860-1870 http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=182254#ixzz2lGArzAaV
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial

Last week I started work on a collection of objects relating the period of the Australian Gold Rushand one of the objects was a porcelain medical jar made by S. Maws and Sons between 1860 and 1870. It had been used for holding leeches and I thought there may be an interesting connection between these blood-sucking animals and the diggers who often spent long hours panning or ‘wet-digging’ in streams and rivers.