276 THE BAT. 



and its ears are extremely long. The other kinds generally 

 resort to the forest, and the most deserted places; but 

 these come into towns and cities, and, after sun-set, when 

 they begin to fly, cover the streets like a canopy. They 

 are the common pest both of men and animals ; they effec- 

 tually destroy the one, and often distress the other. " They 

 are," says Ulloa, " the most expert blood-letters in the 

 world. The inhabitants of those warm latitudes being 

 obliged, by the excessive heat, to leave open the doors 

 and windows of the chambers where they sleep, the vam- 

 pyres enter, and if they find any part of the body exposed, 

 they never fail to fasten upon it. There they continue to 

 suck the blood ; and it often happens that the person dies 

 under the operation. They insinuate their tooth into a 

 vein, with all the art of the most experienced surgeon, con- 

 tinuing to exhaust the body until they are satiated. I have 

 been assured," continues he, " by persons of the strictest 

 veracity, that such an accident has happened to them ; 

 and that, had they not providentially awaked, their sleep 

 would have been their passage into eternity; having lost 

 so large a quantity of blood as hardly to find strength to 

 bind up the orifice. The reason why the puncture is not 

 felt is, besides the great precaution with which it is made, 

 the gentle refreshing agitation of the bat's wings, which 

 contribute to increase sleep, and soften the pain." 



The purport of this account has been confirmed by va- 

 rious other travellers ; who all agree that this bat is pos- 

 sessed of a faculty of drawing the blood from persons 

 sleeping ; and thus often destroying them before they 

 awake. But still a very strong difficulty remains to be 

 accounted for ; the manner in which they inflict the 

 wound. Ulloa, as has been seen, supposes that it is done 

 by a single tooth ; but this we know to be impossible, 

 since the animal cannot infix one tooth without all the rest 

 accompanying its motions ; the teeth of the bat kind being 

 pretty even, and the mouth but small. Mr. Buffon there- 



