BATS. 13 



is commonly used at Selborne, and other parts of Hamp- 

 shire, as well as in that part of the county of Kent, in 

 which the language, as well as the aspect and the names 

 of the inhabitants, retains more of the Saxon character 

 than will be found perhaps in almost any other part 

 of England. 



In the first edition of this work, the characters afforded 

 by the shape of the ear and tragus, and the dentition, were 

 first made use of in the following manner to divide into 

 groups the simple-nosed species. We now reprint the 

 passage verbatim : 



" The characters which are most easily detected and 

 least variable, and which are therefore the most avail- 

 able in the discrimination of the species of this genus, 

 are the forms of the ear and tragus, and the relative pro- 

 portions of the ear to the tragus and to the head. In 

 reforming, in some measure, the specific characters, I 

 have endeavoured to define these proportions more dis- 

 tinctly than has hitherto been done. It is remarkable 

 that the formula of dentition and the form and structure 

 of the tragus combine to point out two distinct groups 

 of the genus. In the one, the tragus is more or less 

 rounded at the tip, short, and a little thickened in its 

 substance : the dentition is as follows : 



I. j : C. i :F.M. $ : M. |= ft 



In the other form, the tragus is relatively longer, thin, 

 narrow, and more or less pointed : the dentition 



I. | : C. | : P.M. J :M. | = ig. 



" To the first group belong V. noctula, Leisleri, discolor? 

 pipistrellus, pygmceus ? To the second, murinus, Bechsteinii, 

 Nattereri, emarginatus, Daubentonii, mystacinus. 



* I. incisives. C. canines. F. M. false molars. M. molars. 



