A researcher prepares leeches for delivery in hospital at the Ricarimpex laboratory in Eysines, Southwestern...
A researcher prepares leeches for delivery in hospital at the Ricarimpex laboratory in Eysines, Southwestern France, July 22, 2016. The leech, Hirudo medicinalis, is an invertebrate 3 cm long in adulthood which after being considered indispensable in the 19th century to cure many affections such as osteoarthritis, phlebitis, tension, then fell in desuetude while it harboured qualities that made it indispensable today in plastic surgery. Picture taken July 22, 2016. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau