IIIE TiLOOD-SUCKING VAMPIRE. I23 



are caught ; but ilie precaution must be taken not to resort to this 

 measure till the heart has been torn out." An old German writer 

 describes the execution of a Vampire : " When they opened his grave, 

 after he had been long buried, his face was found with a color, and his 

 featuixs made natural movements as if tlie dead man smiled. He even 

 opened his mouth as if he would inhale air. They held a crucifix before 

 him and called, ' See, this is Jesus Christ, who redeemed your soul from 

 hell.' Upon this tears began to flow from the dead man's eyes. Finally, 

 when they proceeded to hack off his head, the corpse uttered a screech 

 and turned and rolled just as if it had been alive." In fact the super- 

 stition caused the murder of a sufferer from trance. 

 Allusions to the belief are common in Byron: 



But first on earth as Vampire sent, 

 Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent, 

 Then gliastly haunt thy native place, 

 And suck the blood of all thy race, 

 Yet loathe the banquet, which perforce 

 Must feed thy livid, living corse. 



He refers for further particulars to Southey's notes on " Thalaba," and 

 adds that the stories told in Hungary and Greece of these foul feeders 

 are most incredibly attested. 



Undoubtedly the application of this name Vampire to the blood- 

 sucking bats of South America has increased the aversion with which 

 all the order is regarded. 



The Cheiroptera increase both in number and variety as we approach 

 the tropics. In the torrid zone they come out by thousands. In Central 

 and South America they people the twilight of the primeval forests, 

 they live in hollow trees and in rocks, and wage relentless war on the 

 tribes of insects. The traveler sees them by daylight hanging from the 

 trees, by night they are found in the midst of the forests as well as on the 

 banks of the rivers. In Southern Asia the swarms of bats literally darken 

 the sky when evening comes. " The bats," writes Tennant, " form a 

 decided feature in the evening landscape in Ceylon. They are found in 

 crowds in every hollow, in every underground passage, in the galleries 

 of fortresses, under the roofs of houses, in the ruins of every temple. 

 When night has come and the lamps arc lit they appear, flutter around 

 the table, and catch their prey by lamp-light." Nor are they much less 



