114 THE FLYING FOX, OR ROUSSETTE. 



exemplified by the "stone-butter" of the German miners, and the clay balls of the Indian 

 savage. Some nations there are which feed on their own kind. Many there are which live 

 habitually on the quadrumana that inhabit their country, and there are some who find a 

 favorite article of diet in the Cheiroptera. 



The species which is most generally eaten is the Edible Kalong {Pteropus Edulis), a bat 

 which is found in great quantities in the island of Timor and other places. It is a very large 

 animal, the expanse of wing rather exceeding five feet, and the length of head and body being 

 about a foot. The eye is a fine brown. The flesh of these bats is said by those who have ven- 

 tured upon so strange a diet, to be very delicate in flavor, tender in substance, and white in color. 



It is probably to these animals that Bennett refers, in his " Whaling Voyage round the 

 Globe." 



"The only animals that came under our notice at Timor, were bats and foxes. The bats 

 were of that large kind which sailors call Flying Foxes. When our woodcutters commenced 

 their labors in the forest, the first blow of the axe caused a large flock of these creatures to 

 mount in the air, and wing their way to a less precarious retreat. They flew in a 

 body to the distance of more than two hundred yards, then returned as simul- 

 taneously to the vicinity of the spot which they had quitted, and ultimately 

 settled in the depths of the jungle. 



"Considering how little their vision is adapted for day duty, it was inter- 

 esting to notice the systematic manner in which they directed their flight : one 

 which arose some time after the others, taking immediately the right direction 

 to follow and join the main body of fugitives." 



In this latter passage is mentioned one distinguished peculiarity of these 

 creatures, namely their habit of flying in long lines, somewhat after the manner 

 of rooks returning to roost — 



" Tlie blackening train of crows to their repose." 



One bat seems to take the lead, and the others follow at short and irregular 

 intervals, pursuing the same course as their pioneer. 



The bats which belong to this genus (Pteropus) are remarkable for the fact 

 that they possess fewer vertebra? than any other known mammalian animal. In , 



the entire spinal column there are but twenty -four of these bones ; this paucity indian bat. 

 of number being caused by the entire absence of a tail. 



The hair with which the bat tribe is furnished, is of a very peculiar character, and 

 although closely resembling the fur of a rat or mouse when seen by the unaided eye, is so 

 unique in aspect when seen under a microscope, that a bat's hair can be detected almost at a 

 glance. Each hair is covered with very minute scales, which are arranged in various modes 

 around a central shaft. 



The accompanying figure exhibits the central portion of a hair taken from one of the 

 Indian bats, magnified five hundred diameters, or two hundred and fifty thousand times super- 

 ficially. Near the root, the hair is almost devoid of these scales, and therefore appears much 

 smaller than in the central and terminal portions. Some of these external scales bear a close 

 resemblance to the scales which are placed on the surface of a butterfly' s wing ; but can easily 

 be distinguished from them by their smaller size, and the absence of the striated markings 

 that are found on the scales of the butterfly's wing. 



The strange similitude between the bat's hah, and the plant which is popularly known 

 by the name of "Mare's-tail," cannot but strike any one who is in the least acquainted with 

 botany. It may be, that so remarkable an outward resemblance would not exist unless there 

 were some cause, at present hidden, which would account for it. 



Before leaving the study of the bats, we must take a cursory view of the strange condition 

 of life in which these animals pass the colder months of the year, which condition is known 

 by the name of hibernation, because it takes place in the winter. 



The insect tribes on which the bats chiefly feed and maintain their subsistence, are either 

 quiescent during the winter months, or are abroad in such limited numbers that they could 



