THE VAMPIRE BAT 87 



leg under the wing. The goose sleeps upon one leg lest 

 upon some frosty night it may get frozen hard and fast to 

 the ice. But why these great bats hang by one leg nobody 

 appears able to explain. 



VAMPIRE BAT (Phyllostoma spectrum). 

 Coloured Plate IV. Fig. i. 



The ancients in their highly imaginative mythology made 

 use of fabulous creatures, partaking of the nature of beast 

 and bird. The three Harpies, the daughters of Neptune 

 and Terra, each possessed the face of a woman, the body of 

 a vulture, and fingers armed with sharp claws. They emitted 

 an offensive smell and spoilt whatever they touched by 

 their filth ; and Virgil relates how these fearsome creatures 

 appeared to affright the guests from a great feast. 



It is not at all improbable that the large fruit-eating Bats 

 gave rise to some of these objects of superstitious dread ; 

 for as they silently flit about they are indeed suggestive of 

 everything that is hideous, foul, and evil. There was also 

 an ancient belief in vampires, nocturnal demons that were 

 supposed to eat out the hearts and souls and suck the blood 

 of their victims. Although it could not possibly have been 

 known to the ancients, there is a blood-sucking bat in South 

 America. It belongs to the genus Phyllostoma (Leaf- 

 mouth) or Spectre Bats, and with a wing-spread of two and 

 a half feet is one of the largest of the family. 



The Vampire Bat possesses a cloven leaf-shaped nose 

 membrane, but is without a tail. There appears to be little 

 doubt that in the main it is a fruit eater ; but it is equally 

 certain that there are closely allied genera that are in the habit 

 of sucking blood from the bodies of the larger mammals, 

 not excluding man, while the victim is asleep. The Vampire's 

 teeth (Plate VII. Fig. i) are in strict keeping with such 

 a propensity, consisting of two projecting incisors with 

 lancet-shaped canines, all terminating in sharp points, and 

 so placed as to make a triple puncture like the bite of a 

 leech. In some regions it is dangerous to sleep uncovered. 

 A traveller, speaking from experience, says the animal will 



