NATURALISTS CABINET. 



Description, 



CHAP. VI. 



" Far difPrent there from all that charm'd before, 

 The various terrors of that horrid shore j 

 Those blazing sans that shed a downward ray, 

 And fiercely shed intolerable day; 

 Those matted woods where birds forget to smg, , 

 But silent bats iu drowsy clusters cling." 



GOLDSMITH 



THE BAT. 



THIS singular creature differs from every other 

 quadruped in being furnished with wings; and 

 may indeed be considered as a connecting link 

 in the chain of animal creation. Some naturalists 

 have been doubtful in what class its station ought: 

 to be assigned ; but as it is allied to the quadru- 

 ped race both by its external and internal con- 

 formation,, while its resemblance to the volatiles 

 consists exclusively in the facility of flying, it 

 must indisputably belong to the former. 



The common bat is somewhat less than a 

 mouse, to which animal it bears a considerable 

 resemblance in its general aspect, but its colour 



