MODE OF ATTACK. 247 



this orifice the animal continues to suck the blood until it ia 

 obliged to disgorge ; that it then begins again, and thus continues 

 sucking and disgorging till it is scarcely able to fly ; the sufferer 

 meanwhile sleeps on, not unfrequently continuing to sleep from 

 time into eternity. The captain further states that on one occa- 

 sion he was attacked himself, and that on waking up from 

 his sleep he observed several small heaps of coagulated blood 

 around the spot where he had lain, and that from these it was 

 estimated that during the night he had lost from twelve to 

 fourteen ounces of blood at least. No wonder that with such 

 circumstantial evidence before them writers on Natural History 

 have striven to keep up the reputation of the Vampire, and "have 

 now and then embellished the story with little additional touches 

 of their own. Thus Mr. Wood in his " Zoography " quotes 

 the account of Captain Stedman, and then goes on : " it is said to 

 perform the operation by inserting its acukated tongue into the 

 vein of a sleeping person with so much dexterity as not to be 

 felt, at the same time fanning the air with its large wings, and 

 thus producing a sensation so delightfully cool that the sleep is 

 rendered still more profound, and the unfortunate person reduced 

 almost to death before he awakes." The picture is well drawn, 

 but unfortunately some of its most striking features are alto- 

 gether imaginary. 



The truth of the matter seems to be that while these Bats do 

 occasionally attack the exposed feet of persons that they find 

 asleep, the injury they inflict is never serious unless, as Cuvier 

 says, the wound becomes envenomed by the climate. It is well- 

 known, however, that they attack horses and cattle and smaller 

 animals, although it is extremely doubtful whether any of these 

 even are ever actually killed from the effects of their bites. 



Between the two great divisions of the Bat tribe the Insecti- 

 vorous and the Frugivorous, or fruit-eating kinds there is an 

 obvious dissimilarity in the conformation of the teeth, in the 

 character of the digestive organs, and in other less important 

 points of structure. In the former division, which includes 

 by far the greatest number of species, the molar teeth are 

 sot with pointed tubercles, adapted to crush the harder parts 

 of their insect prey, while their canines are frequently of 

 large size, and extremely sharp pointed. The intestinal canal, 

 again, is unusually short, and evidently intended for thy 



