l60 The Rev. L. Jenyns on the Common Bat of Pennant. 



to be nearly as follows : — Length of body three inches and a half ; 

 head about one inch ; tail about two inches ; and the extent of wing 

 fifteen inches and upwards. Whereas, in our Common English 

 Bat, the length, measured from the nose to the insertion of the 

 tail, is only one inch and seven lines ; that of the head six lines ; 

 of the tail fourteen ; and the extent of wing rarely, if ever, ex- 

 ceeds eight inches and a half. It will surely be allowed that a 

 discrepancy so great as this, — especially when viewed in con- 

 nection with the other differences above alluded to, which are 

 sufficiently obvious to all who investigate the matter to preclude 

 the necessity of being more particularly pointed out, — is at once 

 sufficient to establish the error of those naturalists who have 

 considered these as belonging to the same species, and to war- 

 rant their separation in future. 



Which of these two Bats has most claim to be considered 

 as the true Vespertilio murinus of Linnaeus, for the reason before 

 given, it is difficult to decide. Nevertheless, if we may hazard 

 a conjecture, I am inclined to think, from this circumstance of 

 its larger dimensions, that the identity is greater in the case of 

 the continental species than in ours. It is true, that Linnaeus 

 in his concise description says nothing direct about size ; but 

 since he refers to the Vespertilio major of Brisson*, which that 

 author asserts to be about a foot in extent of wing, it would 

 seem that he intended a species of nearly similar dimensions. 

 As, however, it is very possible that in that day as well as in the 

 present, synonyms were frequently copied down without pre- 



* In fact, these two authors refer to one another. Brisson quotes the sixth edition 

 of the Systema Nature, and Linnaeus in the twelfth, edition quotes Brisson. — Brisson 

 was the first to affix any specific name to this Bat, the edition of the Systema Natura 

 first mentioned having appeared before trivial names were established ; and the term 

 major, selected by him for this purpose, was afterwards changed by Linnteus in his 

 later editions to that of murinus, in consequence of Brisson's observation " miirini 

 coloris." 



vious 



