OF S EL BORNE. 155 



its manner of feeding high in the air : I procured one of 

 them, and found it to be a male ; and made no doubt, 

 as they accompanied together, that the other was a 

 female: but, happening in an evening or two to pro- 

 cure the other likewise, I was somewhat disappointed, 

 when it appeared to be also of the same sex. This 

 circumstance, and the great scarcity of this sort, at 

 least in these parts, occasions some suspicions in my 

 mind whether it is really a species, or whether it may 

 not be the male part of the more known species, one of 

 which may supply many females; as is known to be 

 the case in sheep, and some other quadrupeds. But 

 this doubt can only be cleared by a farther examina- 

 tion, and some attention to the sex, of more specimens : 

 Nuv Je T8TO fjiovov ffatyus ivt$epMt 9 a/xCfo/v etqctvixot, T& dtioTa 

 Qavepug TfTu%eW/' TO, $s vog dtioioiQ /x#A/^r# eoMcuri. 



In the extent of their wings they measured fourteen 

 inches and a half; and four inches and a half from the 

 nose to the tip of the tail : their heads were large, their 

 nostrils bilobated, their shoulders broad and muscular ; 

 and their whole bodies fleshy and plump. Nothing 

 could be more sleek and soft than their fur, which was 

 of a bright chestnut colour ; their maws were full of 

 food, but so macerated that the quality could not be 

 distinguished ; their livers, kidneys, and hearts were 

 large, and their bowels covered with fat. They weighed 

 each, when entire, full one ounce and one drachm. 

 Within the ear there was somewhat of a peculiar 

 structure that I did not understand perfectly ; but refer 

 it to the observation of the curious anatomist 1 . These 

 creatures sent forth a very rancid and offensive smell. 



1 In the great tendency of the bats to produce foliaceous expansions of 

 the skin resides the principal characteristic of the family. The spreading 

 out of membranes between the lengthened bones of the fingers, and the 

 extension of them from the fore to the hinder limbs, are common to all the 

 species ; and many of them have, in addition, another membrane inter- 

 posed between the hinder limbs and enveloping the tail, either in whole 

 or in part, when that organ exists. These expansions belong principally 

 to the peculiar mode of locomotion for which the animals are con- 



