THE BATS 



795 



weights of a gas chandelier in quite an 

 orthodox manner, and when a hand was 

 stretched out to capture it, it flew off 

 again before it was touched. . . . The 

 animal's sight was in no way injured 

 when tlie wax was removed." 



It would appear that tlie object both of 

 the Abbe Spallanzani and of Mr. Whitaker 

 was to prove that the absence of actinic 

 light has little, if any. effect on the ability 

 of a Bat to avoid obstructions in its 

 line of flight. 



This fact can be more simph' and 

 more humanely determined by con- 

 fining oneself in company with a 

 livel}' Bat in a small darkened room, 

 and creating such obstacles as may 

 seem desirable by a suitable dispo- 

 sition of oneself and of the furniture. 

 If the darkness is complete, and the 

 silence is complete also, it will be 

 found that one's own sense percep- 

 tions (other than that of sight) 

 are so sharpened as to enable one 

 to determine certainly, after a little 

 Dractice, whether the Bat is flying, 

 resting, or scrambling about. As a 

 ready means of confirming or refut- 

 ing one's first impressions an electric 

 pocket lamp is useful. One "feels" 

 the approach of the Bat to one's 

 face, and one " feels " it sheering 

 off. One " hears " the interruptions 

 to its flight. More than once, under 

 such conditions, I have known the Bat 

 to settle on my clothing, on my out- 

 stretched hand, and even on my head, 

 but this has never been with the force of 

 a collision, and it seems reasonable to 

 conclude either that a Bat's e\'es are 

 sensitive to rays which are invisible to 

 human beings, or that the Bat possesses 

 some sense-perception which is in- 

 dependent of vision, and is infinitely 

 more delicate than the similar sense- 

 perception which we ourselves may 

 experience under suitable conditions. It 

 seems likely that this sense-perception 

 may be governed by delicate atmospheric 

 impressions — temperature, resistance and 

 elasticity of the air, draught, moisture, 

 and so forth — and that it may be in some 

 way connected with the innumerable 

 " sense-hairs," which are to be found about 

 a Bat's muzzle, on his ears, and scattered 

 over the relatively enoiTnous surface pro- 



vided by his wings. It should be remem- 

 bered in this connection that each " sense- 

 hair " contains a nerve-fibre. 



The wing-structure of Bats is unique. 

 In several of the so-called " flying '' 

 animals (Flying Phahmgers and Flying 

 Scjuirrels, for example) an expansion of 

 hairy flank-skin connects and includes 

 the main portions of the hmbs on either 

 side of the trunk, but leaves the hands and 



THE NOCTULE. 

 Earlet (Tragus) can be seen plainly 



feet free. The horizontal extension of the 

 hmbs stretches this integument into a four- 

 sided sail, and, trusting to its strength 

 as a parachute, the " flying " Squirrel, 

 or Phalanger, is capable of executing 

 prodigious leaps and long aerial glides. 

 The " Flving Lemur." or Colugo, is still 

 further specialised. His feet, hands, and 

 tail are included in a similar parachute 

 membrane, leaving only his muzzle and 

 claws free. Wallace has described him 

 as gliding obliquely downwards through 

 the air for a distance of seventy or eighty 

 yards, and as being capable of steering 

 a definite course. In none of these 

 " flying " animals, however, are the hmbs 

 markecllv abnormal in structure, and the 

 height to which they can n'sc in the air 

 is limited to their leaping power. 



In the Bats, on the contrary, we find 

 a genuine power of flight, and a. corre- 

 sponthng mochfication of structure. The 



