Table 1.

A leech-centred timeline

Year	Event
Early 1800s	The therapeutic application of leeches is advertised in the newspapers.
1830s	‘Bleeding craze’ hit the rates in Europe, leech prices increase.
1830s	Early examples of farming out the leech ponds in the Ottoman Empire.
1839	The Treaty of Balta Liman is put into practice.
1840	Value of leech-inhabiting regions is assessed, and profits of leech-gathering taxes are transferred to the Ministry of Trade. Gathering leeches in bulks is prohibited.
1846	The Ministry of Finance demands a report on the operation of leech ponds from the governors.
1848	Authorities issue a warning about the extinction of leech species. The gathering and selling of extremely small and large leeches is prohibited.
1849	Mr Richard Boulth, a British merchant, protests the leech trade restrictions.
1849	Mr Eduard Rusuvich presents his report on contraband prevention.
1851	Four stores are opened in the Empire to sell the leeches at fixed prices. The tax-farmers are warned not to gather on particular sizes of leeches and not to disturb the mud of leech habitats.
1852-3	The tax-farmers are warned about the risk of extinction in reference to Mr Rusuvich’s report.
1860s	As leeches become scarce, tax-farmers seek debt relief.