12 



CLASS M A M M A L I A. 



ORDER C IIEIROPTERA. 



The Black-headed Roussette (P. Malanocephalos), three inches long, eleven 

 in extent : is found in the most solitary parts of the Island of Java, where 

 it is called Batoeauwel. 



The Ifiodate Roussette (P. Minimus), three and a half inches long, from 

 ten to twelve in extent : is a native of Java and Timor, where it is very 

 destructive in the orchards, and especially prefers the fruit of the jambu ; 

 it is nocturnal, and during the day attaches itself to the higher branches of 

 the trees. In the Malay language it is called Lmeo-Assu. 



The Straw-coloured Roussette the Lesser Ternate Bat of Pennant (P. 

 Stramineus) seven inches long, two and a half feet in extent: native 

 of the Isle of Timor. It feeds on fruit, and is found suspended in caverns 

 and on the branches of trees, in the holes of which it also sometimes 

 hides itself. 



^Egyptian Roussette (P. Geoffroyi or P. ./Egyptiacus), five and a half 

 inches long, twenty in extent : is a native of Egypt and the western parts 

 of Africa, and like our bats attaches itself to the roofs of old buildings. 



The Teat-lipped Roussette (P. Titthsecheilus), five and a half inches long, 

 from seventeen to twenty inches wide: from the islands of Java and 

 Sumatra. This species exhales a very strong odour, probably from the 

 neck, encircled by diverging hairs, and Temminck thinks that the frontal 

 bag in Rhinolophus Speoris, the opening on the chest in Phyllostama Hasta- 

 tum, the throat-bag in Dysopes Velox, and the chin-bag in Taphosous Sac- 

 colaimus, all serve the same purposes. 



The Amplexicaudate Roussette, four and a half inches long, sixteen wide : 

 found at Bencoolen, Siam, and also in the isles of Timor, Amboina, and 

 Sumatra. 



The Bordered-eared Roussette (P. Marginatus) closes our catalogue : it 

 is rather more than three and a half inches long and thirteen in extent. 



Family 2. LEAFLESS-NOSED BATS. 



MOLOSSUS. These animals have a very disagreeable physiognomy ; their 

 head is large, with a very broad snout, resembling that of a mastiff, whence 

 they have been named ; the ears large, arising near the commissure of the 

 lips, project over the eyes, to which, says Geoffrey, they serve the purpose 

 of protection ratherthan to favour the perception of sound. The tragus is 

 placed in front, and external to the auditory passage, which distinguishes 

 this genus from the greater number of this order, in which it is placed 

 within the ear, forming as it were a second auricle ; the muzzle lias no 

 hairs, the tongue soft, the nostrils situated in a kind of little collar extend- 

 ing beyond the lips. In all, the hind limbs are very short, the fibula 

 perfect, and often as large as the tibia ; the tail long, but half of it en- 

 veloped in the interfemoral membrane ; the wings are disproportioned to 

 the size of their large and heavy body, being very narrow, and in some 

 species so much so that they can hardly serve the purpose of more than a 

 parachute ; the thumbs of the wings short, but broad and strong. They 

 live in caverns, are not able to fly well, but climb the trunks of trees and 

 the walls with great vigour, and probably feed on insects. 



The principle species of the Molossus of the old world are 



The Collared Molosse (M. Cheiropus) rather more than five inches long, 

 and the extent of the wings two feet: a native of the Indian Archipelago. 

 The Plaited Molosse (M. Plicatus), four inches and a quarter long, and 

 eleven and a half in extent, about the size of the common European Bat, 

 V. Murinus : native of Bengal, and very common about Calcutta. The 

 Rupelian Molosse (M. Rupelii), larger than the last : native of Egypt. The 

 Egyptian Molosse, three and a half inches long, nine and a half wide : 

 native of Egypt. The Slender Molosse (M. Tenuis), five inches long, 

 thirteen wide : found in Java. 



The species common in the New World include the Rufous Molosse (M. 

 Rufus), five inches long, thirteen wide ; the Black Molosse (M. Alecto), 

 five and a half inches in length, twelve in width; the Shorn Molosse (M. 

 Abrasus), somewhat smaller tlian the last ; the Long-nosed Molosse (M. 

 Nasatus), four inches long, near eleven wide ; the Dusky Molosse (M. Ob- 

 scurus), three inches long, nine inches wide ; and the Swift Molosse (M. 

 Velox), Plate 4, three and a quarter inches long, ten wide ; ears rather 



larger than high, and joined on the forehead; membranes not verv wide 

 but tolerably long, hairy above and beneath, in front of the neck a little 

 glandular ; the fur very short and smooth, very deep shining chestnut 

 above, but a little lighter beneath : from Brazil. 



Family 3. LEAF-NOSED BATS. 



PHYLLOSTOMA. These animals are natives of South America, where, 

 like all the Bats there found, they are considered by the Brazilians to bite the 

 skin and suck the blood both of men and animals, and hence have acquired 

 the name Morfego. This opinion has been pretty generally held ; but much 

 doubt is thrown upon it by observations of recent travellers in the Brazils. 

 Waterton, in his " Third Journey to Guiana," says, " Many a night have 

 I slept with my foot out of the hammock to tempt this winged .surgeon, 

 expecting that he would be there ; but it was all in vain, the Vampire 

 never sucked me, and I could never account for his not doing so, for we 

 were inhabitants of the same loft for months together." In his fourth 

 journey, however, he mentions that a young Indian, whilst sleeping in his 

 hammock in the shed next to his, was severely sucked in the great toe, 

 and that the hole made in it was of a triangular shape. This is but one 

 of the more recent notices of these alleged bloodthirsty animals ; but the 

 old voyagers, Peter Martyr, Ulloa, and Condamine, mention the circum- 

 stance as a well-authenticated fact. 



The Phyllostomes are distinguished among the Leaf-nosed Bats from the 

 Rhinolophi and Megadermata by the more simple form of their nasal ap- 

 pendages, and from the latter also by their auricles being unconnected at 

 their base, and by having incisive teeth in both jaws. Among themselves 

 they differ as to the number of their incisive and molar teeth ; but this 

 alone, unless it were very great and their form very dissimilar, cannot be 

 considered sufficient for their division into distinct genera, t^pix has 

 indeed arranged them in the two genera Pltyllostoma and Vampynts, the 

 principal distinction being the greater length of the jaws in the latter 

 than in the former, which have no tail, whilst his Vampyrus has a short 

 one. The arrangement which we have followed is on the plan of Geollroy 

 in the "Annales du Museum," vol. xv., in which all are included in one 

 genus, with two subdivisions, containing those which have and those which 

 have not a tail. 



First, those with tails: The Javelin Bat (P. Hastatum), five inches 

 in length, twenty-three in breadth. According to Prince Maximilian's 

 observations, this species is a native of Eastern Brazil, but he found it 

 more especially at the River Mucuri and at Villa Viijoza on the Peruhype. 

 It flies at some height and strongly, though not very quickly, in the 

 evening, and often comes in at the windows in summer-time, when it 

 makes a great noise. During daytime it conceals itself near the houses, 

 among the leaves of the cocoa-palm, in high trees among the woods, and 

 in the leafy tops of trees. It is generally believed that these Bats suck the 

 blood of men and animals whilst asleep ; and Prince Maximilian observes, 

 that although he had never seen them in the act of sucking, yet after the 

 fluttering noise of their wings had been heard in the evening, the beasts of 

 burthen about which they had congregated were streaming with blood, and 

 at one station, the Rio das Contas, they were quite spent from the 

 bleeding. 



In Mr. Darwin's " Journal of Researches," &c., we find (p. 22) the fol- 

 lowing confirmation of the blood-sucking qualification of some of the South 

 American Bats : " The Vampire Bat is often the cause of much trouble, 

 by biting the horses on their withers. The injury is generally not so much 

 owing to the loss of blood, as to the inflammation which the pressure of 

 the saddle afterwards produces. The whole circumstance has lately been 

 doubted in England; I was therefore fortunate in bein^ present when one 

 (Desmadus d'Orbignyi, Wat.) was actually caught on a horse's back. We 

 were bivouacking late one evening near Coquimbo in Chile, when inv 

 servant, noticing that one of the horses was very restive, went to see what 

 was the matter, and fancying he could distinguish something, suddenly put 

 his hand on the beast's withers and secured the Vampire. In the morning 

 the spot where the bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished from 



