In your column of September 04, Cecil correctly stated that garlic does not repel mosquitoes. However, he missed the opportunity to answer a question that was not asked, namely, whether garlic repels other natural blood suckers.
As a matter of fact, garlic strongly repels leeches, information pertinent to surgeons who use leeches in relieving the swelling in re-attached limbs until venous drainage is re-established.
One assumes that this is the source of the folklore that wearing garlic will ward off certain mythical creatures with similar predelections.
Interesting article. Needs an update to take eucaplyptus and soybean oils into account, though. They’re the best natural repellents out there: eucalyptus keeps wearers bite-free for 120 minutes, and soybean oil for 94 minutes on average. (DEET works for roughly 300 minutes.)
The other thing people demand here a lot is citations. So I’ll provide that for my claims: Cite!
