22 



ORDER CHIROPTERA.— GENUS NOCTILIO. 



branes are ample ; the interfemoral extends considerably beyond the 

 feet, and the tail descends about a fourth of it. The ear is directed for- 

 wards ; it is very acute, transparent, and more than an inch long. The 

 head above is very flat. The muzzle is naked, very acute, and bent up- 

 wards, so that the animal has been compared to a pug-dog ; the lip is 

 divided by the cleft which separates the nostrils, and the mouth is fes- 

 tooned in a very peculiar manner. There is a white stripe along the 

 dorsal ridge in some specimens. 



2. NOCTILIO RUFIPES RED-CLAWED HARE-LIPPED BAT. 



Syn. et Icon. Noctilio rufipes D'Orb. Voy Mammiferes, pi. 9. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair uniform reddish-yellow. The Membranes, Ears, and 

 Feet, grey. The Claws reddish. The Auricular Operculum deeply 

 notched. 



Inhabits South America. 



This species is known to us only through the figure of M. D'Orbigny 1 

 above quoted. 



imaginary species. 



1. Noctilio albiventer, (Spix, Sim. et Vesp. Bras. pi. 35, fig. 2 and 

 3,) is the young of N. Leporinus according to Temminck. 



2. N. dorsatus of Geoffroy is a variety of sex or age of the same 

 species. 



DOUBTFUL GENERA AND SPECIES. 



1. Aello Dr Leach (Linn. Trans. XIII. p. 71) has described a Bat 



under the name of Aello Cuvieri, now in the Museum of the University 

 College, London. The head is nearlv conical ; the forehead flat ; the 



ears large and separate, apparently truncated at the extremity ; the tail 

 with a membraneous band produced to the point of a large interfemoral 

 membrane. Its colour is rusty brown ; its alar membranes dark brown ; 

 the dimensions are not indicated, and its country is unknown. The den- 



2|1 + C+4.M 12 „„ 

 tltlon |2+C+6M = r8= 3a 



2. Celjeno This is another of Dr Leach's genera, reposing on a 



single specimen, which he styled Celseno Brooksiana, (Linn. Trans. 

 XIII. 70.) According to Mr John Edward Gray, the specimen in the 

 Museum of the University College, London, is merely a Noctilio, in which 

 the bones of the tail had been withdrawn from the skin. 



3. Pteronotus. — Mr Gray (Mag. Zool. and Bot. II. 500) proposes a 

 new genus to contain a Bat, named by him P. Davyi, from Trinidad. 

 His account is as follows : Ears lateral, tragus elongate lobed ; chin with 

 a reflexed cartilaginous edge to the lower lip, and an erect membraneous 

 ridge across its lower part ; wings only affixed by a narrow line to the 

 middle of the back, which is covered with fur beneath them; hind-feet 

 long, the ankle rather produced and exposed ; the lower angle of the wing 

 lies folded over it. Its dentition is not stated. Mouse-coloured, wings 

 baldish ; expanse of wing twelve inches. From a specimen in the Mu- 

 seum Fort Pit, Chatham. 



4. Myopteris. — M. Geoffroy (Mem. de l'lnst. d'Egypte, II. p. 113) 

 describes a Bat under the name of Myopteris Daubentonii. The nose is 

 simple, the ears broad, separate, and lateral, with an internal operculum ; 

 the tail long, one half enveloped in the interfemoral membrane ; the 

 muzzle short and thick. The upper parts of the head and body are 



brown, beneath it is lighter. 



. 2J1 + C+4M 12 „„ 

 The denttt.cn is | T ± s ±_ i= _ = 26. 



This is the Bat volant of Daubenton, (Mem. de l'Acad. de Paris, 1759.) 



TRIBE II— DIPHALANGIA ISTIOPHORA. 



Syn. Istiophori, (in part.) — Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras. 



Phyllostomina Gray, in Mag. Zool. et Bot. II. 4S6 Less. Mam. 



CUARACTERS OF THE TRIBE. 



The Index witli two ossified phalanges, the middle finger with three. 

 The Nose witli one or two leafy appendages. 



We have now arrived at that group of Bats where the cutaneous system, 

 ample in them all, acquires its maximum development. This is aided by 

 the two phalanges of the index finger, and the three of the middle one ; 

 the phalanges being the frame-work of the membranes; and is manifested 

 by the nasal appendages, consisting of the horse-shoe, (Jer-a-cJieval,') a 

 semi-circular cutaneous excrescence immediately below, and often involv- 

 ing the nostrils, and the nose-leaf, usually rising up at right angles to the 

 horse-shoe, and exhibiting a resemblance to the leaves of some vegetables. 

 A few remarks, then, on the more prominent peculiarities of this deve- 

 lopment, and the uses it subserves, are more especially required. In 

 many of the genera the tegumentary folds, more especially the alar and 

 interfemoral, are so superabundant, as well as those of the ears and nose, 

 that the bodies themselves of these animals can scarcely be perceived: 

 their aspect is thus rendered more shadowy, their physiognomy wilder, 

 and, finally, their forms so vague and indistinct, as greatly to increase the 

 horror which their alleged devastations inspire. 



In the Anistiophora division just described, we had occasion to allude 

 to the extraordinary development manifesting itself in the external ears, 

 which, in some species, are approximated and festooned over the eyes ; but 

 in some of those we have yet to review the external auricle nearly equals 

 in dimensions the whole body. The external ear, in fact, instead of being 

 single, as in all other animals, may be said to be double in many of the Bats ; 

 for, in addition to the external concha, which they have in common with 

 other terrestrial Mammalia, they have a second and internal one, which 

 more directly surrounds the auditory foramen. This second auricle is 

 derived from the tragus, or rather, according to M. Geoffroy's well known 

 views, is the tragus itself, though we are led to suppose it a distinct 

 part, on account of its great volume, in proportion to that of the ear, and 

 on account of this latter being so folded and rolled upon itself. A 

 precisely corresponding change takes place at the nostrils, which are fur- 

 nished with borders in the form of crests and leaves supplied by duplica- 



tures of the skin ; these membranes are somewhat tubular in shape, and 

 the bottom of the funnel constitutes the entrance of the nasal apertures. 

 This arrangement then prevails in the organ of smell as of hearing ; both 

 being provided with conchas, or external trumpets. 



The consequence of this is not less apparent than it is striking. 

 Most of the senses of these Bats are thereby rendered exquisitely acute. 

 From the great expanse of their alar and interfemoral membranes, they 

 acquire, by means of the aerial vibrations, information of many minute , 

 bodies, of which other animals are perfectly unconscious. Hence the 

 observations of Spallanzani led him to infer, that most frequently they 

 perceive the indications of touch without requiring immediate contact ; 

 and hence, according to the judicious remark of Cuvier upon these expe- 

 riments, all that they require to be advertised of the immediate presence 

 of corporeal objects, is to beat, or rather feel, the air which is interposed 

 between them and these objects, judging by the manner in which it acts 

 upon their membranes. Spallanzani states this may be considered as the 

 possession of a sixth sense. That the ample dermal apparatus at the 

 ears and nostrils produces corresponding effects on the senses of hearing 

 and smelling, is too evident to be dwelt upon, — a remark the more valu- 

 able when associated with an observation of Dr Horsfield formerly noticed 

 with regard to the Dysopes torquatus, (p. 20,) that the development of 

 the internal ear, when compared to that of Man, is enormous. All this 

 acuteness of apprehension is necessary for the exercise of their predatory 

 propensities against nocturnal insects, during the twilight, and even 

 midnight darkness. And, lest the sensibility should overwhelm them un- 

 der the scorching influence of a tropical sun, it is not less interesting to 

 observe, that these same tubes and concha; are, by a slight muscular 

 agency, at the will of the animal, converted into so many plugs and valves, 

 whereby all smells and sounds are shut out as effectually as is the light 

 by the closed eye-lids. The " operculum," says M. Geoffroy, "is placed 

 at the margin of the meatus auditorius, in such a way as at will to be- 



♦Vc a' ' S - mUCh tobe re S retted that the elegant Work of HI. D'Orbigny, published under the auspices of the French Government, proceeds at a rate of intolerable slowness ; 



the descriptions of many Plates, which have long been in our possession, are still withheld Should not a public work of that kind be issued at a loner price, and the separ- 



able^portions indistinct series ? ■ 



