VAMPYRUS.— THE VAMPYRE BATS. 



23 



come a valve which closes its entrance, and the folds and pads of the 

 nose-leaf effect the same object at the nostrils ; so that," continues the in- 

 genious Naturalist, '• it is not without a purpose that, in the Bats, the 

 cutaneous system acquires so great a development." 



GENUS X. VAMPYRUS— VAMPYRE BATS. 



Syn. Phyixostoma, (in part.) — Cuv. Geoff, et al. 



Vampyrus Leach, in Linn. Trans. XIII. — Spix, Less, et al. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Head long and narrow. The Muzzle -lengthened. 



The Ears middle-sized, separate. The Auricular Operculum 

 notched, placed interiorly. 



The Tongue extensile; point formed for suction ; the papilla? directed 

 backwards. 



The Nose with two appendages, the one horizontal, in the form of a 

 horse-shoe, the other erect, resembling a javelin. 



„ „ „ 2i2+C+(2 F+3)M 16 



The Dental Formula XX 3 -T=_ : 



Inhabit South America. 



=34. 



The appellation Vampi/re was introduced into Natural History by Lin- 

 neeus, and applied by him to the Great Roussette Bats already described. 

 Buffon again applied it to the animal we are now about to consider, un- 

 der the conviction that the habits which made the name applicable be- 

 longed exclusively to this species. In this conclusion, it speedily ap- 

 peared he was mistaken, as there were many South American Bats, 

 closely allied in several of their features, all of which have blood-sucking 

 propensities. MM. Cuvier and Geoffroy, about the year 1809, in exa- 

 mining together the family of Bats, associated these together under the 

 name of Phyllostoma, which group becoming very numerous, has again 

 been subdivided into smaller sections. The Vampyre was, of course, for 

 a long time ranked by all writers, foreign and domestic, as a Phyllostoma. 

 M. Geoffroy, twenty years later, (in 1829,) in his Le9ons, separated the 

 Vampyres from the last named group, grounding the distinction on the 

 difference of the shape of the crania, those of the Phyllostomes being 

 short, with a broad muzzle, whilst the cranium and muzzle of the Vam- 

 pyre are very narrow: a difference likewise exists as to the number of the 

 teeth. 



After these explanatory remarks, it will readily be understood that many 

 of the relations which have been published concerning the blood- thirsty 

 propensities of Bats, do not refer exclusively to what is now considered 

 as the true Vampyre : though this, however, is the case, yet, as the last 

 named animal possesses them in a prominent degree, we shall in this 

 place introduce such general observations as are required for the illus- 

 tration of the subject. 



It is not for a moment to be imagined that any of these animals live on 

 blood alone. No more is it to be supposed that, though distinguished as 



the insectivorous tribe, they confine themselves to this species of food 



On the other hand,itU : • le, as previously observed, that as the frugivorous 

 Bats sometimes devour flesh, so these insectivorous Bats are sometimes 

 frugivorous. Nor is this to be regarded as a rare or trivial occurrence. 

 It would, on the other hand, appear that the Bats immediately under 

 consideration are decidedly omnivorous, and that their depredations upon 

 fruit are occasionally troublesome and as vexatious, as is expeii- 

 enced from the ravages of the true Frugivoras. A fact or two will 

 illustrate this. " When the moon shone bright," says Mr Waterton, 

 "and the fruit of the Banana-tree was ripe, I could see the Vampyre ap- 

 proach and eat it. He would also bring into the loft where I slept, from 

 the forest, a green round fruit, something like the wild guara, and about 

 the size of a nutmeg. There was something also in the blossom of the 

 Sawarri Nut-tree which was grateful to him." — (Wanderings, 179.) M. 

 Palissot-Beauvois again, as mentioned by M. Geoffroy, was an eye-witness 

 of the devastations they made of fruit, to the great annoyance of the agri- 

 culturist. From Hayti this gentleman wrote : " One morning my friend 

 exclaimed, ' Shall I gather the beautiful fruit from that superb tree to-day, 

 or wait for its perfect maturity to-morrow ? If I take this latter course, I am 

 afraid of the Bats.' The fruit was left, and the gentleman's worst anticipa- 

 tions were realized. During the night a cloud of Bats made their appear- 

 ance, and left scarcely a sample behind." M. Geoffroy was so much in- 

 terested in this recital, that he wrote inquiring what particular Bat had 

 wrought the mischief; specimens both of the fruit and its devourer were 

 transmitted to France, and the latter turned out to be the Spectacled Ja- 

 velin-Bat soon to be noticed. 



That they are also pre-eminently insectivorous cannot be doubted ; 

 often have multitudes of these troublesome tribes been found in their 

 stomachs after death, and in this way much must be done to keep these 

 hordes in their proper subordination. 



With regard to the attacks of these creatures on the other animals and 

 Man, D'Azara states that it is only in lack of their more common food that 

 they resort to nobler prey. Be this as it may, they are in this way often 

 troublesome, and sometimes, it would appear, destructive. The range 

 over which they extend seems to be wide. P. Martyr mentions the ex- 

 istence of these animals at the Isthmus of Darien ; both the Ulloas report 

 their presence at Carthagena ; Roume discourses of the Vampyre of the 

 Island of Trinidnd, and D'Azara encountered them in Paraguay. The 

 injury they produce has probably been exaggerated, and yet it is such as 

 not to be despised. The great Spanish Naturalist informs us that they 

 frequently attach themselves to the combs and wattles of the domestic 

 fowl and destroy them ; not so much by the hemorrhage they produce, as 

 from the injurious effects of their wounds. Mules, Asses, Horses, and 

 horned Cattle, in fact, all Quadrupeds are exposed to their attack, and to 

 an extent which is characterized b}' Mr Darwin in relation to the Horse, as 

 " often the cause of much trouble." M. Geoffroy seems perfectly to cre- 

 dit the narrative related by M. de la Condamine, that the attacks of these 

 animals destroyed the herds and flocks which the first European settlers 

 succeeded in conveying to the New World. " When some Spaniards," 

 says he, " at the epoch of the discovery of America, detesting the cruelty 

 and villany of their compatriots, were led to cherish more honorable 

 sentiments towards the Aborigines, and, in the exercise of their philan- 

 thropy, thought of compensating for the massacre of man by the gift of 

 the European domestic animals, the Phyllostomes frustrated this generous 

 enterprise; these Bats in numbers attacked the first Cattle and Sheep 

 which the missionaries transported into America, and destroyed them by 

 sucking their blood." 



Finally, in relation to Man, it is certainly not a little curious that the 

 attacks of the Vampyres should be confined to his great toe ; for of all 

 narratives we have met, this part alone has been signalized. Another 

 curious fact is, that it is only during sleep that they commit their depre- 

 dations, and so dexterously as not even to awake the sufferer. These 

 certainly curious circumstances have led to various hypotheses for their 

 explanation, none of which, however, appears very satisfactory, and hence 

 the phenomena are still regarded as mysterious. Buffon detected some- 

 thing peculiar in the tongue of his " Vampyre," which, in his estimation, 

 constituted it a peculiar organ of suction, capable of drawing blood without 

 inflicting a wound ; but unfortunately for this ingenious speculation, Buf- 



fon's Vampyre, as staled above, was a Roussette, and not a Vampyre a 



frugivorous, not an insectivorous Bat, — and guiltless, in short, of such bloody 

 deeds. Led on Bufflm's track, M. Geoffroy assures us he has made the 

 identical discovery which Buffon had anticipated. " The tongue of the 

 Phyllostomes presents a very curious organization, whence they are en- 

 dowed with a power of suction. Close to its extremity is a cavity, in the 

 centre of which there is a small point in relief, and round its circumference 

 are placed eight warty projections, somewhat less prominent than the cen- 

 tral one." (Ann. des Sc. Nat. XV. 165, Lecons, XIV. p. 31.) And 

 again, " I have now satisfied myself that the Phyllostomes are endowed 

 with a real organ of suction at the extremity of the tongue, in the midst 

 uf a circle of warty papilla;. The tip begins to act in a plane, which is 

 quite level : in this state it is applied in immediate contact to the point 

 about to be operated upon ; the muscular fibres, which are attached by 

 a tendon to each wart, now contract, hence they are all simultaneously 

 approximated, and a smaller circle is formed within the original one." 

 (Lecons, XIV. p. 35.) This is a curious fact; but the ingenious Natural- 

 ist does not rest here. In connection with the admitted truth, that the 

 blood is abstracted during sleep without wakening the subject of at- 

 tack, he concludes that this could not occur if the skin were wounded as 

 in an ordinary bite, and that sometimes there is no leasion in the integu- 

 ment at all. This we apprehend is carrying the matter too far. That 

 they inflict a wound is attested by numerous eye-witnesses. " The 

 wounds on my toes," says D'Azara, " which, however, I knew nothing of 

 at the time of their infliction, were circular or elliptical, from a line to a 

 line and a half in diameter;" and Waterton, "on the great toe there 

 was a wound somewhat less than that made by a leech, whence the blood 



was still oozing." That they give pain is no more doubtful : " When 



bivouacking late one evening," says Mr Darwin, " near Coquimbo, my 

 servant noticing that one of the horses was very restive, went to see what 

 was the matter, and fancying he could distinguish something, suddenly 

 put his hand on the beast's withers, and secured a Vampyre." (Zool. 

 of the Beagle, Mam. p. 2.) The mystery is probably less than usually 

 imagined. The leech, though its bite is sufficiently sharp, is often ap- 

 plied to man asleep without awakening him. The teeth of the Vam- 

 pyre are sharp; a slight incision, with the help of the sucking apparatus, 

 is all that is required, and the sleeper's repose is undisturbed. 



The quantity of blood drawn by the Vampyre does not appear to be very 

 great ; but considerable oozing often continues, so that much may be lost. 

 The wound is troublesome for a few days, but in man usually heals without 



