114 ORBEff Til. 



permits them to fly about when totally blinded, a 

 if they had their complete sight. This power ena- 

 bles them to penetrate into the deepest caves and 

 conduits, no matter how far remote from the light ; 

 nor do they suffer from the want of air, or from its 

 mephitic state. In these retreats they are found in 

 flocks, but the species never are mixed, nor the 

 males with the females, nor the young with either, 

 when they are capable of flying. It is in the pairing 

 seasons that they are for some time associated. Late 

 observations tend to prove, that some, if not all, re- 

 produce their species only when nearly adult, and 

 never after they are grown. 



Many species fly with great vigour, but none ever 

 raise themselves to a great altitude in the air ; nor 

 is it likely that any can sustain their flight for the 

 same length of time which we know many species 

 of birds are wont to perform. 



The bats were placed in one genus by LinnaBUS ; 

 afterwards, they formed almost exclusively the fa- 

 mily of Cheiroptera^ in the order Carnassier of 

 the French naturalists, and of Cuvier; then the 

 family of Vespertilionidce of Gray and Lesson ; and 

 last, the Cheiroptera, excluding the genus GALEO- 

 PITHECUS, consisting of the bats alone, forms the 

 third order of Professor Owen ; and, in this arrange- 

 ment, it still contains a great number of species 

 demanding much sub-division, and of all mammalia 

 is that which is most rapidly increasing in numbers, 

 by the constant discovery of new forms, and of new 

 species. 



