Dr. Merryweather, honorary curator of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society's Museum, detailed the sensitivity that medicinal leeches displayed in reaction to electrical conditions in the atmosphere. He was inspired by two lines from Edward Jenner's poem Signs of Rain: "The leech disturbed is newly risen; Quite to the summit of his prison."
Dr. Merryweather, curator emeritus of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society's Museum, noted the leeches' heightened sensitivity to atmospheric electrical conditions. This observation was sparked by two lines from Edward Jenner's poem Signs of Rain: "The disturbed leech rises; Reaching its maximum confinement."