450 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ZOOLOGY, VOL. XL 



In England, at least until a comparatively recent date, the com- 

 mon name for a Bat was Flitter-mouse, and in Germany, Fledermaus, 

 literally meaning flying or flittering mouse, and names having a similar 

 signification were, and still are, in use in many parts of Europe. In 

 France their supposed relationship to mice is shown by the use of the 

 name Chauve-souris. 



Bats have always been more or less associated in folklore with 

 witches and goblins, and have been the cause of much foolish super- 

 stition among the ignorant. In many parts of Europe, for example, 

 their presence in a house was supposed to presage misfortune to the 

 occupant; on the other hand, however, it is claimed that in China a 

 similar intrusion is construed to be the forerunner of unusual good luck, 

 thus favoring the Mongolian race, in a manner which seems hardly 

 equitable. 



The number of species belonging to this order is very great, repre- 

 senting at least 173 genera and 17 families, widely distributed through- 

 out the world. Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., estimates that the recognized 

 forms will eventually exceed 2,000.* 



Suborder MICROCHIROPTERA. 



The members of this suborder are nearly all insectivorous, although 

 a few are sanguinivorous or frugivorous. They possess tuberculate 

 molars; pollex with claw; second finger without claw and never with 

 three phalanges, sometimes two are present, but usually one or none; 

 palate not extending back of last molar; outer and inner edges of ear 

 conch arising from separate points of origin. Sixteen families are 

 now recognized belonging to this suborder, three of which occur in 

 the United States, but only one so far as known is represented within 

 our limits. f 



* Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 57, 1907, p. 2. 



t The Free-tailed Bat, Nyctinomus depressus, belonging to the family Molossidce 

 has been taken in eastern Iowa. 



