ORDER CARNASSIER. 159 



The family of the cheiroptera, or bats, is, without ques* 

 tion, the most abundant in species of any subdivision of 

 the Mammalia. By a reference to the organs of mastica= 

 tion, sense, and motion, it can fortunately be divided into 

 numerous groups, without which it would be next to im- 

 possible to study these singular animals with any prospect 

 of success. 



The ancient authors busied themselves but little in dis- 

 tinguishing the different species of bats. To Daubenton 

 (so recently as 1759,) we are indebted for our knowledge 

 of the noctule, though one of the commonest species. 

 It may, also, be safely asserted, that many more accurate 

 observations will be necessary, before we are in com- 

 plete possession of its history ; and the same remark is 

 equally applicable to all the other bats whose habits, 

 structure, and disposition, have been as yet but very super- 

 ficially studied. In truth, little is known concerning them 

 beyond their mere zoological characters. Their natural 

 history, properly speaking, has been made the subject of 

 very few observations. There are, however, but few of the 

 mammalia whose peculiarities would better repay the at- 

 tention of a curious observer, inasmuch as their extraordi- 

 nary organization obliges them to a mode of existence, if 

 possible, still more extraordinary. The extreme difficulty 

 of sustaining them in a state of captivity will, for a long 

 time, hinder us from becoming acquainted with their true 

 nature, and the advantages which they derive from their 

 organization for procuring subsistence, escaping from their 

 enemies, and propagating their kind. Before all the phe- 

 nomena relative to these fundamental points of the natural 

 history of any animal can be collected, a large number of 

 individuals of each species must be subjected to attentive 

 observation. 



We have been a little more diffuse on this curious fa- 



