146 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. 



M. de Jurine, by the sense of hearing, that bats are able 

 to thread their way through underground passages where 

 scarcely a ray of light can enter. The Abbe Spallanzani's 

 convincing but cruel experiments showed that bats arti- 

 ficially blinded (for the proverbial expression " as blind as 

 a bat " involves a piece of gratuitous calumny) were able to 

 fly freely and fearlessly in and out among various obstacles 

 to their progress without striking against the walls of the 

 room, or so much as touching with their wings the objects 

 it contained. Nay more, they seemed to be anxious to 

 give the paw of a cat or the hand of a man a wider berth 

 than to any mere inanimate piece of furniture. And when 

 one was allowed to fly down an underground passage in 

 which there was a sharp bend, not only did it sweep round 

 the curve without hesitation, but it detected a small cavity 

 in the roof, and changed its course in order to hide itself in 

 this retreat. It is said, moreover, that those species which 

 bear nose-leaves show greater acuteness of perception than 

 those which are not so adorned, and that many of them 

 are known to frequent the darkest places of retreat, and 

 to fly later than some of their less endowed fellows. 

 Professor Flower has shown that the nose-leaves are 

 developed in part from the integument round the nostrils 

 and in part from the sensory region of the upper lip. 



' The dreaded Vampire of South America is one of these 

 nose-leaved bats. It is a cruel-looking fellow, with long, 

 sharp canine teeth. The length of the head and body is 

 about six inches, and the spread of its wings nearly two 

 feet and a half. Cruel as it looks, however, it is in all 

 probability innocent of the blood of man or of four-footed 

 beast. Its food would seem to consist of insects and 

 vegetable products. The maws of those examined by Mr. 

 Bates contained only a pulp of fruits and seeds with a few 

 remains of insects. 



