161 



tremities as a comb, parting the hair on either side from head to tail, 

 and forming a straight line along the middle of the back. The mem- 

 brane of the wings was cleaned by forcing the nose through the folds 

 and thereby expanding them. Up to the 20th of June the animal fed 

 freely, and at times voraciously, remaining during the day suspended 

 by the posterior extremities at the top of the cage, and coming down 

 in the evening to its food : the quantity eaten sometimes exceeded 

 half an ounce, although the weight of the animal itself was no more 

 than ten drachms. On the '23rd, Mr. Daniell, observing her to be very 

 restless, was induced to watch her proceedings. The uneasiness 

 was continued for upwards of an hour, the animal remaining during 

 all this time in her usual attitude suspended by the posterior extre- 

 mities. On a sudden she reversed her position, and attached herself 

 by her anterior limbs to a cross wire of the cage, stretching her hind 

 legs to their utmost extent, curving the tail upwards, and expand- 

 ing the membrane interposed between it and the posterior extremi- 

 ties, so as to form a perfect nest-like cavity for the reception of the 

 young. In a few moments the snout of the young one made its ap- 

 pearance, and in about five minutes the whole of its head was pro- 

 truded. The female then struggled considerably until the extremi- 

 ties of the radii had passed, after which the young one by means of 

 a lateral motion of its fore limbs relieved itself. It was born on its 

 back, perfectly destitute of hair, and blind ; and was attached by an 

 umbilical cord of about two inches in length. The female then licked 

 it clean, turning it over in its nest, and afterwards resuming her 

 usual position, and placing the young in the membrane of her wing, 

 proceeded to gnaw off the umbilical cord and eat the placenta. She 

 next cleaned herself, and wrapped up the young so closely as to pre- 

 vent any observation of the process of suckling. The time occupied 

 in the birth was 17 minutes. At the time of its birth the young 

 was larger than a new-bom mouse, and its hind legs and claws were 

 remarkably strong and serviceable, enabling it not only to cling to 

 its dam, but also to the deal sides of the cage. On the 24th the 

 animal took her food in the morning, and appeared very careful of 

 her young, shifting it occasionally from side to side to suckle it, 

 and folding it in the membranes of the tail and wings. On these oc- 

 casions her usual position was reversed. In the evening she was 

 found dead ; but the young was still alive, and attached to the nip- 

 ple, from which it was with some difficulty removed. It took milk 

 from a sponge, was kept carefully vsTapped up in flannel, and survived 

 eight days, at the end of which period its eyes were not opened, and 

 it had acquired very little hair. From these observations it is evi- 

 dent that the period of gestation in the Noctule exceeds thirty-eight 

 days. 



Mr. Daniell also exhibited skeletons of the male and female of the 

 Pipistrelle and Noctule Bats, forming part of his own collection, for 

 the purpose of pointing out a peculiarity in the female, connected, 

 as he conceives, with the mode of parturition just described. This 

 peculiarity consists of a prolongation of the os calcis along the mar- 



