1 8 Tra nsadions of the 



sense of toucli very highly developed. A naturalist called 

 Spallanzani found that bats were able, after being deprived 

 of the senses of sight and hearing, to fly with the greatest 

 accuracy, avoiding even numbers of small strings which he 

 had stretched across the room. Cuvier, however, seems to 

 have satisfactorily accounted for this power, by supposing 

 that the flying membrane itself was endowed with the most 

 exquisite tactile sensibility, which its anatomical structure 

 appears fully to bear out. 



The hair of bats, too, though apparently much the same 

 as that of mice or rats, when examined under the microscope, 

 exhibits some peculiar and remarkable features. Each hair 

 is covered with a regular series of scales, arranged round a 

 ■central shaft. 



We shall now pass on to consider some of the species of 

 bats, of which at least nineteen have been enumerated. 

 There are several kinds of bats belonging to this country. 

 One of these is the Great Horse-shoe Bat.* It may be recog- 

 nised by the absence of the inner ear, and by the leaf-like 

 appendage found on its nose. Another, and perhaj^s the most 

 common, is the Long-eared Bat,^ remarkable, as its name 

 implies, for the extreme length of its ears. The largest 

 British species is the Large-eared Bat.^ The greatest of all 

 bats are the Kalongs, or, as they are often called, Flying 

 Foxes.* Some of these species measure over five feet in 

 expanse of wing. Their food is fruit. 



We now come to what will, I think, form an appropriate 

 termination to this paper, namely, a short notice of the 

 celebrated Yampire Bat.^ 



The Vampire Bat is a native of South America. It is not 

 a very large animal, the spread of its wings being only about 

 two feet. Many horrible tales you have no doubt often 

 heard told of this dreaded animal : how it settled on the 

 exposed toes of the sleeper ; and how, after having with its 

 sharp teeth inflicted a slight and imperceptible wound, it 

 then commenced draining the very life-blood of its victim, 

 alternately sucking and disgorging its meal ; and how it went 

 on with its revolting repast until its wi-etched victim perished 

 from exhaustion. The fact seems to be clearly proved that 

 the vampire frequently attacks both man and beast, but at 



' Ekinolophtcs Ferrum-equhmm. ■ ^ P-ecotus auritvs. 



^ Myotis rnurinus. 



* Pteropics. There are two fine specimens of P. rubricollis in the Clifton College 

 Museum. 



■' Vam.'pirus sjKctrum. 



