244 MR. G. E. DOBSON ON SECONDARY SEXUAL [Mar. 4, 



male Sea-elephant (Macrorhimis proboscideus) and the Bladder- 

 nosed Seal (Cystophora cristata) ; and Mr. Darwin, when referring 

 to the sexual peculiarities of these animals, does not sugeest any use 

 for the remarkable structures possessed by the males ; but cites 

 Lesson, who " compares the erection of the proboscis [in M. pro- 

 boscideus] to the swelling of the wattles of male gallinaceous birds 

 whilst they court the females " *. 



I am disposed, however, to regard the protrusible frontal sac of 

 the male Phyllorhine Bats as a more specialized structure than the 

 erectile nose of ill. proboscideus, or the inflatable skull-cap of 

 C. cristatus. The peculiar finger-like appearance of the everted sac, 

 armed at the extremity with a pencil of long straight hairs, seems to 

 indicate that it acts as a delicate organ of touch, and is probably 

 used by the male for exciting the female ; supplementing, in this 

 respect, the very imperfect eye-sightf of these animals, as the 

 highly sensitive wing-membrane and expanded foliaceous nasal ap- 

 pendages supplement the same in their search for food, enabling 

 them also to avoid obstacles even in the darkest caverns and when 

 totally deprived of the little sight they possess. 



In the genera Megaderma and llhinolophus the females only possess 

 peculiar pubic warts, resembling teats, which have been described by 

 Temminck and other zoologists. Temminck regards them as odori- 

 ferous glands, in no manner connected with the function of nutrition, 

 and writes : — " J'ai soumis un grand nombre d'iudividus de plusieurs 

 especes differentes a l'examen de ces parties, et le resultat m'a 

 pleinement convaincu que ces mamelons ne servent en aucune 

 maniere a la nutrition, ce sont des appendices d'ou suinte une 

 matiere onctueuse, fetide ; cet appareil doit servir a, augmenter 

 l'odeur dcsagreable que ces animaux exhalent, et parait destine aux 

 memes fins que les siphons ou les glandes odoriferes observees dans 

 plusieurs especes de Cheiropteres " J. 



These pubic warts, if Temminck's remarks be correct, present 

 another very interesting secondary sexual character ; but, although I 

 have examined a large number of specimens of Megaderma lyra and 

 of various species of Rhinolophus preserved in spirit, I am unable to 

 assert positively, as Temminck has done, that they are in no respect 

 connected with the function of nutrition. To determine this question 

 it would be necessary to examine recent specimens obtained during 

 the season of lactation. 



Dr. Anderson, Curator of the Indian Museum, during a collecting- 

 tour in Lower Bengal, obtained at Purneah a large number of spe- 

 cimens of the females of M. lyra with their young; and the following 

 remarks occur in a letter received by me from him on his return to 

 Calcutta : — " All the young, even the largest, were adherent to the 

 teats, some attached to the abdominal, and others to the pectoral 



* Descent of Man, vol. ii. p. 278. 



t Mr. Darwin enumerates many instances where he considers the brilliant 

 colours of the fur or feathers of male animals, or other sexual peculiarities, are 

 admired by the females. 



{ Monographies dc Mammalogie, vol. ii. p. 3, 



