BRITISH BATS. 

 PART I. 



THOUGH upwards of nineteen species of Cheirop- 

 tera are found in Great Britain, your readers may 

 possibly be unacquainted with some of their most 

 interesting habits and structural modifications. For 

 a long time the anatomy of the bats was but little 

 understood, and they were placed at the end of the 

 mammalian class, being considered to form a con- 

 necting link between the quadrupeds and birds, and 

 it was left to more modern naturalists to refer them 

 to their true position in the scale of creation. The 

 first peculiarity which strikes the eye is the mem- 

 brane which enables the creature to launch itself in 

 the air, and which can be wrapped round the body 

 during the intervals of repose. This membrane is 

 double in structure, and extends to the extremities 

 of the limbs, leaving the hind feet and a small 

 portion of the tail exserted. Indeed, we can form 



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