Richard Collins: Leeches suck — which can be handy at times

Napoleon suffered from haemorrhoids and was prescribed 25 leeches to be applied to the 'swelling' on the day before the battle of Waterloo

The leech, related to the earthworm, has a sucker at its rear end with which it propels itself through water and locks onto a host. The proboscis, up front, has sharp tooth-like appendages, which seek out exposed flesh and make an incision. Leech saliva contains anaesthetics, anticoagulants and substances to increase blood-flow.

We are the things that others fear — Anne Rice, The Vampire Chronicles

Napoleon was ‘a martyr to the piles’. Swollen veins in his 'back-passage' may have denied him victory at Waterloo 210 years ago this month. Martyn Linnie, in his Unnatural History of Animals , just published, devotes a chapter to the great emperor’s anal challenge... and the creepy-crawlies which supported him on the fateful day.