'264 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Tame bats. 



and shady walks, and are frequently seen skim- 

 ming along the surface of ponds or rivers in 

 quest of insects. Towards the end of summer 

 they retire into caves, ruinous buildings, or hol- 

 low trees, where they remain during the winter 

 in a state of complete torpidity ; most of the ani- 

 mal functions being so far suspended as scarcely 

 to be perceptible. 



The bat is capable of being tamed to a certain 

 degree; and Mr. White informs us, that he was 

 once much amused with the sight of a tame bat 

 which would take flies out of a person's hand, 

 and bring its wings round before the mouth, ho- 

 vering and hiding its head in the manner of birds 

 of prey when they feed. tf The adroitness/' says 

 our author, " which it showed in shearing off the 

 wings of the flies, which were always rejected, 

 was worthy of observation,, and pleased me much. 

 Insects seemed to be most acceptable, though it 

 did not refuse raw flesh when offered ; so that 

 the notion that bats go down chimneys, and 

 gnaw people's bacon, seems no improbable story. 

 While I amused myself with this wonderful qua- 

 druped, I saw it several times confute the vulgar 

 opinion that bats, when down on a flat surface 

 cannot get on the wing again, by rising 1 with 

 great ease from the floor. It ran, I observed, 

 with more dispatch than I was aware of, but in a 

 most ridiculous and grotesque manner. 



From repeated experiments made by Spallan- 

 zani, on several varieties of these animals, it ap- 

 1 



