I30 CHEIROPTERA. 



inflicted by the enemy. Even with the utmost care they rarely 

 live long in confinement. Flight seems a necessity of their well-being, 

 and, when kept prisoners, they contract ulcers on the wings and soon 

 perish. Yet some specimens lived and produced young in the London 

 Zoological Gardens, and Brehm's couple lived over two years in a 

 cage. 



The bats which belong to this genus are remarkable for the fact that 

 they possess fewer vertebrae than any other known mammalian animal. 

 In the entire spinal column, there are but twenty-four of these bones ; 

 this paucity of number being caused by the entire absence of a tail. 



THE LEAF-NOSED BATS. 



The Phyllostomid^, or simple leaf-nosed bats, are found from Mex- 

 ico and the Antilles to the southern limits of the forests east of the Andes 

 and in Chili. One species, closely allied to the Mexican form, is found 

 in California ; and the Vampires, of which such terrible tales are told, 

 belong to this family. The family has been divided by various naturalists 

 into five groups ; it is sufficient for us to say that it embraces t/iirty-oiie 

 genera and sixty species. We will mention onlv the genera Phyllostoma, 

 Dcsmodus, and Macrotus. 



The members of this family are chiefly characterized by two nasal 

 leaves, one in the form of a horseshoe, situated above the upper lip ; the 

 other disposed in the shape of a lance, and placed above the first. They 

 have the mouth widely cleft, the tongue studded with horny papillae, and 

 in each jaw a pair of strong canine teeth, which project beyond the lips. 

 They are of medium size, their hair is short and lustrous, and their inter- 

 femoral membrane is more or less developed, according to the genera ; 

 the tail varies in length, or is altogether absent, as the species differ. 



It is probable that all the leaf-nosed bats are blood-suckers, but 

 only under certain circumstances. Hence we have very conflicting 

 accounts. 



The naturalist Azara, who observed a large number of these American 

 bats, has afforded us valuable information concerning their habits. It is 

 usually on the croup, shoulders, or neck, that they bite beasts of burden, 

 because there they find a secure resting-place. The wounds they inflict 

 are neither extensive nor deep, but are small incisions made by the horny 

 papilte with which their tongue is armed, and which only puncture the 



