VAMPIRES. 299 
microscope, be at once distinguished from that of all other species; the individual 
hairs being very thick, and with only faint traces of the projecting scales 
characteristic of other bats. The tail is extremely short. From its structural 
peculiarities Dr. Dobson is led to believe that this curious bat hunts for its insect 
food, not only in the air, but also on the branches and leaves of trees, among which 
it would certainly be able to creep with ease. 
THE VAMPIRE-BATS. 
Family PHYLLOSTOMATID. 
The extensive group which it is convenient to allude to collectively under 
the name of vampires, is exclusively confined to Central and South America 
and the West Indian Islands. While related to the preceding family, with which 
they agree in the characteristics mentioned on p. 289, they differ in certain other 
points of importance. And they appear to have a relationship to the smooth- 
nosed free-tailed bats (Himballonuride) similar to that presented by the leaf-nosed 
bats (Rhinolophide) to the typical bats (Vespertilionide). 
They are characterised by the presence of three bony joints in the third 
or middle finger of the wing, accompanied either by a well-developed nose-leaf, 
or by folds of skin and warts on the chin. Such of them as have a nose-leaf 
(and these are by far the great majority) may be always distinguished from the 
leaf-nosed and horseshoe-bats, not only by the number of joints in the third 
finger, and by the characters mentioned on p. 289, but likewise by the presence of 
a distinct tragus to the moderate-sized ears. Moreover, if we examine the dried 
skulls of any members of the two families, we shall find that while in the leaf-nosed 
bats and their allies the premaxillary bones, in which the one pair of small upper 
incisor teeth are implanted, are small, separate, and loosely attached to the skull, 
in the vampires these bones are large, firmly united both to one another and the 
skull, and generally carry two pairs of large incisor teeth. 
The number of genera and species of vampires is so great that only the more 
remarkable types can be even mentioned in this work. With the exception of a 
few species having well-developed tails and a large membrane between the hind 
legs, which are of strictly insectivorous habits, the vampires are remarkable for the 
varied nature of their food; some subsisting on a mixed diet of insects and fruits, 
others being wholly frugivorous, and a few exclusively blood-suckers. Others 
again, although there has been, and still is, considerable doubt on the matter, appear 
to vary their ordinary diet by resorting to blood-sucking when occasion occurs. 
All are of purely aérial habits, and present none of the adaptations for crawling 
which characterise the mastiff-bats and their allies. They appear to be limited to 
the forest-clad districts of the regions they inhabit; and, according to Dr. Dobson, 
do not probably extend much farther south than the thirtieth parallel of latitude. 
That they are a highly specialised family is apparent both from their structure 
and the peculiar habits of many of their representatives. In South America the 
a circum- 
hame vampire is applied indifferently to several members of the family 
stance which has been the fruitful source of confusion among European writers. 
