98 
Mr. Osborn said Mr. J. J. Wood confirmed his opinion that 
the Bat was a living magazine of parasites, and asked about the 
blood circulation of the Bat in hanging head downwards after a 
good meal. 
On the motion of the Secretary, Mr. C. Hargreaves, seconded 
by Mr. J. Watts, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the 
lecturer. 
In reply, Mr. Coward answered the questions. No one could 
tell the life of a bat. Probably they lived two or three years— 
how much more they did not know. The speed they flew at 
varied with the species—some 20 miles an hour, others, however, 
slowly like a moth. At different times the same species would 
fly at a different rate. The insectivorous bats were bad tempered 
among themselves, but did not show temper in captivity—when 
they knew one. Food-eating bats were always snarling and snap- 
ping at each other, and they were strictly frugiferous. The most 
successful flying machine so far had been developed on the lines of 
the bat’s rather than the bird’s wing. They could not get anything 
to serve the same purpose as the curious mechanical action in the 
loose feathers of the bird’s wing—it would yield and let air pass 
through. But the stretched membrane could beimitated. He 
did not think that bats could repair their damaged membrane. 
When tliey hibernated the heart became weaker and weaker, and 
circulation became much lower than in the ordinary normal sleep. 
His opinion was that to a certain extent digestion was retarded, 
but whether hanging upside down had anything to do with it he 
could not say. He knew no creature, except the hedgehog, that 
seemed to suffer more from parasites than bats. All bats were 
troubled with them. One of the parasites was like the house fly 
without wings, which sucked the blood of the bat and made it 
uncomfortable. 

