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THE LONG-EARED BAT*. 



The long-eared Bat is only an inch and three-- 

 quarters in length, while the extent of its wings iS' 

 seven inches. Its ears are above an inch long, very 

 thin, and almost transparent ; and within each there 

 is a kind of secondary auricle, or membrane, re- 

 sembling an ear, so placed as to serve for a valve or 

 guard to the auditory passage. — This is one of the 

 iiiost common of the British Bats, and one of those 

 that we often see flitting about in search of insects, 

 in the flne evenings of summer and autumn. 



All the European species of Bats pass the winter^ 

 from the absence of their insect prey, in a torpid 

 state, withaut either food or motion, suspended in 

 some dark place, in old ruins, caverns, or in the 

 hollows of decayed trees. During the time they re- 

 main in this state, most of the animal functions arc 

 so far suspended, as scarcely to be perceptible. The 

 action of the heart and arteries becomes so exceed- 

 ingly languid, that the pulse can hardly be felt : 

 if respiration be at all carried on, it is also so very 

 slow as scarcely to be discoverable. The natural 

 temperature,., or animal heat,, gets greatly below the 

 usual standard ; and digestion becomes altogether 

 suspended. All the visible excretions are at a stand;- 

 and none of the functions seem to go on, exctpt- 

 ing a very slow degree of nutrition, and an inter- 



* Synonyms. — Vespcrtilio Auritus. Liiw. — Long-cared Endii-b 

 Bat. Ed-i.:jards. — Oreillar. BuJfoH. — Long-cared But Pcivi. 



