122 



r?attr of Natural 



entered, and turned it loose upon the world 

 again. 



"In the plantations of Guiana there is 

 generally an old negress, known by the 

 name of Granny, a kind of ' Junonis anus,' 

 who loiters about the negro yard, and is 

 supposed to take charge of the little negroes 

 who are too young to work. Towards the 

 close of day, you will sometimes hear some 

 of the most dismal cries of woe coming from 

 that quarter. Old Granny is then at work, 

 grubbing the Chegoe nests out of the feet of 

 the sable urchins, and filling the holes with 

 lime-juice and Cayenne pepper. This search- 

 ing compound has two duties to perform ; 

 first, it causes death to any remaining Che- 

 goe in the hole ; and, secondly, it acts as a 

 kind of birch-rod to the unruly brats, by 

 which they are warned, to their cost, not to 

 conceal their Chegoes in future : for, afraid 

 of encountering old Granny's tomahawk, 

 many of them prefer to let the Chegoes riot 

 in their flesh, rather than come under her 

 dissecting hand." In this strain our amusing 

 " Wanderer" continues to recount the Che- 

 goes' annoyances ; but our want of space 

 warns us to desist from indulging in a longer 

 extract , and we conclude by observing, that, 

 as these insects have a decided predilection 

 for the toes, the most effectual way to pre- 

 vent their attacks, is to wear thick stockings, 

 and to bathe the feet often, particularly in 

 sea-water. 



CHEIROGALEUS. A genus of Mam- 

 malia belonging to the order Quadrumana, 

 allied to the Qalagos. They retain the 

 whole of their inferior incisors during life ; 

 the head is round ; the nose and muzzle are 

 short ; the lips are furnished with vibrissce; 

 the ears are short and oval ; the eyes are 



gular 

 from 



large, and close to each other ; the toe-nails 

 are compressed, somewhat clawlike ; while 

 the tail is long, bushy, and cylindrical. 

 There are two or three species of these sin- 

 lar Mammalia known, all of which come 

 Madacascar. The species figured is 

 called Cheirogaleus medius. 



CIIEIROMYS. [See ArE-ArE.] 



CHEIROPTERA. The scientific name of 

 an order of Mammalia, having the faculty 

 of sustained flight ; being characterized by 

 having the anterior extremities so formed 

 as to serve the office of wings, the fingers 

 being extremely long, and connected to- 

 gether by an extended membrane. This 

 power of continued flight, so contrary to the 

 general habits of mammiferous animals, is 

 obtained by the structure of the anterior 

 extremities, the fingers of the fore-hand (or 



claw) being greatly lengthened ; between 

 them is extended a thin membrane, which is 

 continued from the anterior to the hinder 

 extremities, and, in most Bats, is also con- 

 tinued between the hind legs, and it embraces 

 the tail where this member is present. The 

 food of most Bats is insects, which they are 

 incessantly pursuing in their rapid flight ; 

 in all of these the membrane is extended 



between the hind legs, which enables the 

 in pursuit of its prey. 

 Some Bats, however, feed principally on fruit, 



Bat to turn rapidly 



and in these the hind legs are free. They 

 all possess four large canine teeth, but the 

 grinders vary in number, the smallest num- 

 ber being on each side, three in each jaw, 

 nd the largest five above and six below, or 

 vice versa. The incisors also vary, the 

 smallest number being two above and two 

 below, and the largest number four above 

 and six below. The order Cheiroptera con- 

 tains only one division, the Vespcrtilionidai. 

 The flying Foxes (Galeopithecus} being now 

 very properly classed among the Quadru- 

 mana. Bats, then, are divided into two 

 families ; the first of which, Istiophori, are 

 characterized by the peculiar structure of 

 the nose, the skin of which is expanded into 

 leaf-like appendages, which are supposed to 

 increase their power of smell ; the second 

 family, Anistiophori, have the nose simple. 

 The first family is divided into two sub- 

 families ; the first, Phyllostoinatina, having 

 the nose-leaf simple, and the second, Rhino- 

 lophina, in which it is complicated. The 

 second family is divided into three sub- 

 families ; the firsf, Vespcrtilionitia, in which 

 the wings are wide and extended, the head 

 long, and there is only a single phalanx or 

 joint to the fore-finger ; the second, Nocti- 

 lionina, having the wings long and straight, 

 head short and obtuse, and there are two 



Phalanges on the fore-finger ; and the third, 

 'teropina, in which the wings are rounded, 

 the head long, and having three phalanges 

 on the fore-finger. There are seventeen 

 British species of Bats : two belong to the 

 family Rhinolophina, the greater and lesser 

 Horse-shoe Bat ; but neither of them are 

 very common. The remaining fifteen be- 

 long to the family Vesper tilioaina, twelve 

 being included in the genus VexpertiUo, the 

 largest of which is the V. Mvrinus or Mouse- 

 coloured Bat, the extent of the wings being 

 fifteen inches ; this species is very rare. 

 The common Bat is the Pipistrelle (.V. 



