NI 
or 
1865. ] MR. W. OSBURN ON THE BATS OF JAMAICA, 
Dental formula, M. = C. = I. ye 
Incisors. Upper hooked backwards ; lower not hooked; edges 
level. Canines strongly hooked backwards. Molars hooked, set 
at wide intervals, in place of true lesser molars. The fangs of these 
little teeth passed in straight lines down the external surface of 
gum, but were not imbedded in its centre as usual. They were 
quite traceable with a glass beneath the skin. Intestine 4? inches ; 
reproductive organs very conspicuous. Skull bare of muscles. Feet 
large and much developed. 
“ Brampton Bryan, 17th Dec, 1858. 
**My friend Mr. Farquharson, the overseer of this property, took 
me to a cave not far from the house. The mouth is in an angle of 
perpendicular rock, which, through a narrow aperture, leads to a cir- 
cular space with a vaulted roof, as smooth as if chiselled, evidently 
once at a level with the sea, and worn by the vortex each billow sent 
into it. A strong smell announced the presence of Bats, which the 
boy, who went in first with a torch, soon gave notice of. In ashort 
time we caught ten, and all, I saw, of the same species. It proved 
to be a particularly interesting one, which seems to be Macrotus 
waterhousii, from Mr. Gosse’s description, the first of the kind I 
have met with on this side. They proved, with one exception, all 
females ; and of these nine, seven had young of differing ages, but 
about half-grown, clinging to them. T hey were easily caught, drop- 
ping into the net or flying heavily, manifesting by no means the 
activity or terror of other species. On taking them out of the bag, 
one of the females was dead. The tenacity with which the young 
clutched the dead mother with feet and arms, and the eagerness with 
which it burrowed its snout in fur to search for the accustomed 
nutriment, were as affecting as the picture of the “ Dying Doe.” 
Another female, living, had still the young clinging to her ; and the 
usual position seemed, that the dug was held by the hooked teeth, 
and the fur or even thigh of opposite side grasped by feet, so that the 
position of the young Bat was diagonally across the mother’s belly ; 
but I observed them clinging in many other directions to the belly, 
but never to the back, except one I placed with a female under a 
glass: it then clung to her in every manner, burrowing its snout 
into the fur of the back for the nipple, groping and clinging with 
ludicrous energy. I carelessly omitted, before placing this female 
with the young, to ascertain from her nipple whether she was giving 
suck ; it was only after killing her I found she was not. This may 
account for the savage manner in which she treated the foundling, 
biting it and holding the head between her teeth. But still the 
instincts of the little animal were too strong for any pain to alter, 
and it clung till death relaxed its hold. On examining the stomach 
of this female I found it full of coagulated blood, part of which was 
entering intestine; I could account for its presence in no other way 
than by supposing that she not only left the marks of her teeth on 
the head of the young, but actually sucked the blood like a vam- 
