488 Zoological Society. 



nerves of sensation, in the membranes, would render them highly 

 delicate organs of touch, and a safe protection against the injuries 

 which their slender members might otherwise sustain in such places. 

 All the membranes of this and the allied genera Furipterus, Natalus, 

 and Hyonycteris are elaborately veined and dotted, just as in the 

 Horse-shoe Bat ; and I have had a good opportunity of witnessing 

 the extraordinary powers of flight of the latter. 



On one occasion I had liberated from a box in my usual sitting- 

 room a Pipistrelle and a Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. The former flew 

 directly against the glass of the window, just as a bird does, and re- 

 peated the attempt to escape several times. The Horse-shoe Bat, 

 instead of doing this, although it approached very near to the glass, 

 never even so much as touched it with the tips of its wings ; and I 

 could distinctly see it pass in front of each pane so near as almost 

 to touch it, but at the same time avoid the prominent wood-work of 

 the window. Under and amongst the tables and chairs it passed 

 with perfect ease, touching nothing, and behind the window curtains 

 in a similar manner, although there was scarcely an inch of space 

 between them and the wall. At length, when flitting in front of 

 some book-shelves from which I had just removed an octavo volume 

 (Temminck's Birds of Europe), it seemed, if I may use the expres- 

 sion, to feel the vacant space, and passed in and out again without, 

 I believe, even so much as touching the volumes on either side. 



Mr. Blyth has observed of Natterer's Bat that it occasionally 

 "flapped against a glass case" while flying round a room. I have 

 often seen various species of Vespertilionidce do the like against the 

 walls and furniture of a room, but have never seen the Horse-shoe 

 Bat do so. 



Now, although speculation in zoological science is scarcely admis- 

 sible, yet I am tempted to suggest, from the general similarity of 

 the organs of flight in the genera Furipterus, Nat a/us, Hyonycteris, 

 and Kerivoula with those of Rhinolophus, that they may have pre- 

 cisely the same function to perform ; and I should entertain but 

 little doubt of this, were not the latter provided with very singular 

 cutaneous expansions, as nose-leaves and facial crests. These have 

 by some observers been considered as organs of touch, performing in 

 fact the office of eyes. But this latter suggestion is at best a mere 

 suggestion, since we find amongst the Rhinolophidce some species 

 which, while they possess all the other peculiarities of Rhinolophus, 

 are destitute of what may properly be called a nose-leaf, having in 

 its stead grooves and hollows not likely to be highly sensitive organs 

 of touch. This is the case with Rh. aurantius of Australia, and 

 with Nycteris, which is simply a modified Rhinolophus. 



Without further pursuing these suggestions, I may state my belief 

 that it is in the whole expansion of the cutaneous system that the 

 singular sense with which these animals are endowed exists, and 

 that this, if properly investigated, will afford one of the most certain 

 indices to the natural classification of the Vespertilionidce. 



Before concluding, I wish to add a suggestion relative to the pro- 

 bable habits of Hyonycteris, derived from the examination of spe- 



