148 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [April 



re-enter their habitation, again to emerge at the first signal of their 

 feathered trumpeter. I thus ascertained one very important fact, 

 namely, that the bat, or the species which annoyed us, ate and 

 drank twice in twenty-four hours. Such appeared their habit, 

 such therefore was their indispensable need. Upon ascertaining 

 this fact, after having tried suffocation by the fumes of brimstone 

 with only partial success, I concluded to adopt a more efficient 

 plan of warfare ; and for this purpose commenced by causing all 

 the holes, fissures in the wood-work, and apertures in the slating 

 to be hermetically sealed with cement. This put a stop to their 

 egress. But to avoid their dying by starvation and deprivation of 

 water, which would manifold increase the annoyance by adding 

 their dead to their living stench, I ordered apertures of about two 

 feet square to be opened in the lathe and plastered partition on 

 each side of the garret windows, and also in the ceiling of every 

 garret room ; lastly, when the bats' reveille was sounded by the 

 bugle of the whippoorwill, all the hands of our establishment, 

 men and boys, each armed with a wooden implement (shaped like 

 a cricket-bat), marched to the third floor, ' on murderous deeds 

 with thoughts intent;' a lighted lantern was placed in the middle 

 of one room, divested of all furniture, to allure the hidden foe from 

 their strongholds. After closing the window, to prevent all escape 

 into the open air, the assailants, distributed at regular distances 

 to avoid clubbing each other, awaited the appearance of the bats, 

 enticed into the room by the artificial light, and impelled by 

 their own natural craving. The slaughter commenced, and pro- 

 gressed with sanguinary vigor for several hours, or until brought to a 

 close by the weariness of dealing the blows that made the enemy 

 bite the dust, and overpowered by the heat and closeness of the 

 apartment. This plan succeeded perfectly. After a few evenings 

 of similar exercise, in vhich the batteurs became quite expert in the 

 use of their weapon,every wielding of the wooden bat bringing down 

 an expiring namesake, the war terminated by the extermination of 

 every individual of the enemy in the main building. However, there 

 still was the cock-loft of the laundry, which gave evidence of a 

 large population. In this case I had recourse to a plan which had 

 been recommended, but was not carried out in regard to the dwell- 

 ing-house. I employed a slater to remove a portion of the slating 

 which required repairing. This process discovered some fifteen 

 hundred or two thousand bats, of which the larger number were 

 killed, and the remainder sought the barn, trees, and other places 

 of concealment in the neighborhood. 



