32 OF BATS IN GENERAL. 



offspring, which, in the manner of all other quadru- 

 peds, they suckle by means of teats. 



What are denominated wings consist only of an 

 extremely thin, light, and delicately formed mem- 

 brane, which extends from one shoulder, entirely 

 round the body of the animals, to the other; con- 

 necting the fore and hind legs, and (in the tailed 

 Bats) the tail. This, from its thinness and flexibi- 

 lity, is capable of being contracted, at pleasure, into 

 numerous wrinkles, (so as to lie in small compass 

 when the animals are at rest, ) and of being stretched 

 to a very wide extent for their occasional flight. 

 An attentive examination of tHe skeleton of a Bat 

 will immediately show, that the principal bones, 

 which extend, in different directions, through this 

 membrane, are those of real hands are fingers very 

 greatly lengthened, for the purpose of supporting 

 and directing it. These are four in number on 

 each side ; the fifth toe, or, as perhaps it may with 

 more propriety be called, the thumb, is short, dis- 

 tinct from the fingers, and furnished at the end with 

 a sharp and hooked claw, by means of which the 

 animals are enabled to hang upon hard substances 

 with considerable tenacity. 



In order to give motion to their membranous 

 wings, and enable the Bats, by means of these, to 

 rise into the air, their clavicle, or collar-bones, are 

 peculiarly thick and strong, and the pectoral mus- 

 cles are proportionally larger and more fleshy than 

 those of any other quadrupeds. When a Bat is 



deprived 



