164 DUBLIN NATUEAL HISTOET SOCIETY. 



found one (a male) of the species above described. On my first visit I 

 captured four bats, which all died before I was able to forward them to 

 Dublin. I could not get them to eat anything. At a subsequent visit 

 I took five specimens, which I forwarded to Dr. Kinahan. I kept them 

 for some days under a wire meat-cover on the ground, and on one occa- 

 sion, when I carelessly lifted the cover, a bat which chanced to be on 

 the ground raised himself without difficulty, and flew rapidly from the 

 ground. He flew quickly and strongly, much like a swallow, and, 

 though the room was small, he knocked against neither ceiling nor wall, 

 although he dodged with the greatest address every effort I made to re- 

 take him. I have been told of another much larger bat in this neigh- 

 bourhood, but have not seen specimens. Since the above was written, 

 I procured in separate caves two other specimens (one a female), in the 

 neighbourhood of Quinn. One of these caves was stopped. From all 

 I can find out, there is every reason to believe that the lesser horse- shoe 

 is the bat of this part of the country. 



Professor Kinahan, T. L. S., read the following paper : — 



MAMMALOGIA HIBEENICA ! PAET I. — STJB-CLASS, LISSENCEPHALA; OEDEE, CHEI- 



EOPTEEA, INSECTIVOEID^ ; OE, A GENEEAL EEVIEW OF THE HISTOEY 



A^^D DISTEIBUTION OF BATS IN lEELAND J WITH EEMAEKS ON ME. FOOT's 

 DISCOVEET IN CLAEE OF THE LESSEE HOESE-SHOE BAT, A SPECIES 

 HITHEETO UNEECOEDED IN lEELAND. 



Me. Foot's paper on the discovery of the lesser horse- shoe bat atBally- 

 allia and elsewhere, in the county of Clare, is so complete as regards 

 the habits of the animals, that I will incorporate my remarks on that 

 highly interesting communication in a general review of the whole or- 

 der to which it belongs ; being the first of a series of papers which I 

 have long contemplated bringing before your Society, illustrative of 

 Irish Mammalology. 



In these I have drawn almost entirely on matter which has come under 

 myown observation, and in every case have had the opportunity of examin- 

 ing critically the specimens quoted, and of comparing them with authentic 

 specimens;, and also, in all doubtful cases, have, through the kindness of 

 the President of the Linnean Society, backed my own opinion by his, as 

 to the identity of my specimens and the species recorded in the ''British 

 Quadrupeds," first edition, the full value of which latter will be at once 

 appreciated by any one who attempted to study this group some eight 

 or ten years since, when, out of all the public Museums in Dublin, I 

 could only find three authentically named British species, viz., V. Nat- 

 tereri, Sc. pipistrellus, and Plecotus auritua ; so that, when I procured 

 V. mystacinus for the first time, I found it utterly impossible to make 

 sure of the species positively until after a reference to London. Now, 

 however, the case is different, as authentically named specimens of at 

 least eight of the British species arc available to the student in our 

 National Museum and elsewhere. 



