21 



ORDER CHIROPTERA— GENUS PHYLLOSTOMA. 



difficult)'. D'Azara, who was himself bitten four times, states that the 

 inhabitants of Paraguay thought but little of these attacks, or of the ani- 

 mals which made them. 



1. VAMPYRUS SPECTRUM COMMON VAMPYRE BAT. 



Syn. Vespertilio Spectrum Linn. Gmel. 



Phyllostoma Spectrum Geoff. Ann. Mus. XV. 174, 186 Desm. 



Mam. No. 175. 



Vampyuus Spectrum Leach, in Linn. Trans. XIII. 80. 



Le Vampyre. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 117. 



Spectre Bat.— Penn. Quadr. II. o08 Shnw, Zool. I. 143. 



Icon. Geoff. Ann. Mus. XV. pi. I], tig. head, cran., and teeth. 



Seba, pi. 58 Sehreb. Saiigt.h. pi. 45, B. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair reddish-brown above ; reddish-yellow beneath. 



This Vampyre is the Andira-guacu of the Brazilians, figured in 

 Seba, pi. 58. Its leaf is oval, and hollowed in the shape of a fun- 

 nel. This animal comes from South America; it is reddish-brown, 

 and about the size of a Magpie. It has been accused of destroy- 

 ing men, and the lower animals, by sucking their blood, but it 

 merely inflicts some very small wounds, which may sometimes be- 

 come inflamed by the climate. 



Though much of the alarm and apprehension which attached to 

 this animal, and led Dr Shaw to dilate upon it as " a tremendous crea- 

 ture, said to be sometimes six feet in extent," is now removed, yet its 

 habits are so peculiar, annoying, and, we may add, destructive, that the 

 popular interest with which it is still regarded is not by any means 

 surprising. 



We believe it is larger than any of the Phyllostomes, with which it is 

 so closely associated. It is commonly stated to be about nine inches in 

 extreme length, from the tip of the nose to the termination of the hind- 

 feet, and from eighteen inches to two feet in extreme breadth, though Mr 

 Waterton informs us he once killed one which measured thirty-two inches 

 across, from the- tip of one wing to that of the other ; the ears are about 

 fourteen lines high ; the nasal leaf six ; the interfemoral membrane nearly 

 three inches. The incisor teeth are closely set between the canines ; in 

 the upper jaw the two mesial ones are larger than the lateral ; and in the 

 lower they are all very small and pushed forward ; the canines are strong ; 

 the molars have all the characters of a carnivorous animal. Its physiog- 

 nomy is singular, and far from being captivating ; its muzzle is long, its 

 mouth large, its teeth formidable, and the ears are of great size in length 

 and breadth, with a marked operculum ; the nasal leaf is of medium size, 

 prolonged from the horse-shoe, without any intervening division ; its 

 middle stem is not very thick, and the lateral lobes are rounded, and ter- 

 minate somewhat on this side of the point. The alar membranes extend 

 from the ankle to the origin of the thumb ; the interfemoral occupies the 

 whole space included between the limbs ; its terminal edge forming a 

 salient angle, shaped, as in a demi-hexagon, the product of three equal 

 lines, the two external terminating at the spurs, and the third at that 

 part of the membrane which is destitute of support. We need scarcely 

 remark, it has no vestige of a tail, though this appendage is conferred 

 upon it in some of the older descriptions. The fur is soft, chestnut- 

 coloured above, and of a reddish-yellow colour beneath. 



The whole extent of the South American Continent is usually assigned 

 as the habitat of the Vampyre, though this probably has arisen from the 

 name being applied indifferently to a number of the Phyllostomes. That 

 it occurs in Guiana seems to admit of no doubt ; and* in proof of this, 

 as well as illustrating its habits and blood-thirsty propensities, we shall 

 quote some of Mr Waterton's interesting remarks. " As there was a 

 lree entrance and exit to the Vampyre in the loft where I slept, I had 

 many a fine opportunity of paying attention to this nocturnal surgeon. 

 He frequents old abandoned houses and hollow trees ; and sometimes a 

 cluster of them may be seen in the forest hanging head downwards from 

 the branch of a tree ; as stated by Goldsmith— 



' In matted woods, where birds forget to sing, 

 And silent Bats in drowsy clusters cling.' 



" Some years ago I went to the river Paumaron with a Scottish gentle- 

 man. We hung our hammocks in a thatched loft of a planter's house. 

 Next morning, as soon as there was light enough, 1 went to bis hammock, 

 and saw it was much stained with blood. On examining his foot, I found 

 the Vampyre had tapped his great toe ; there was a wound somewhat 

 less than that made by a leech ; the blood was still oozing from it; I 

 conjectured he might have lost from ten to twelve ounces of blood. On 

 another occasion, they sucked a young man of the Indian breed very 



severely, as he was sleeping in the shed next to mine ; his great toe 

 seemed to have all the attractions. I examined it minutely as be was 

 bathing it in the river at day-break. The midnight surgeon had made a 

 hole in it, almost of a triangular shape, and the blood was then running 

 from it apace." — ( Waterton's Wanderings, pp. 179, 301.) 



DOUBTFUL SPECIES. 



1. Vampyrus soricinus, (Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras. pi. 36, fig. 2 

 and 6.) 



The body rather slender ; incisors with a somewhat diverging apex ; 

 the nose-leaf entire, continuous below and in front with the lip ; the 

 lips are undivided, and free from warts ; a few on the chin. 



Frequents the roofs of the houses of Rio Janeiro, and the banks of 

 the St Francis. 



2. V. cirrhosus, (Spix, pi. 36, fig. 3.) 



The head somewhat prolonged ; the lips, sides, and lower part of the 

 nose-leaf, and especially the chin, studded with warts. 

 Habitat not ascertained. 



3. V. bidfns, (Spix, pi. 36, fig. 5.) 



The muzzle acute ; the incisors long ; ears wide spreading ; the fur above 

 is brownish-black, beneath mouse-coloured ; the alar membranes are black 

 and naked ; the point of the tail perforates the interfemoral membrane 

 externally; the spurs are very long, and concave towards the lower mar- 

 gin of the membrane, to which they give a bifurcated appearance. 



Inhabits the banks of the St Francis. 



GENUS XL PHYLLOSTOMA JAVELIN-BATS. 



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



MonOphyllus et Artibeus. — Leach, in Linn. Trans. XIII. 



Carollia et Macrophyllum Gray, in Mag. Zool. and Bot. II. 



Lophostoma D'Orb. Voy. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Head short and thick. The Muzzle short and broad. 



" rr, Ts t, 2|2+C+(2 F+3)M 16 OQ 



The Dental Formula ^^^±^=-=32. 



(For the other characters, see Vampyrus, p. 23.) 



Among the Javelin-Bats the normal number of incisors is four in 

 each jaw, but a part of those in the lower often fall out, expelled 

 by the growth of the canines. They are further distinguished by 

 their leafy appendage being turned up across the tip of the nose. 

 The tragus or operculum of the ear is shaped like a small leaf more 

 or less dentated. Their tongue, capable of great, extension, is termi- 

 nated, by papillae, which appear to be so arranged as to form an organ 

 of suction, and, further, their lips have tubercles symmetrically ar- 

 ranged. These are American animals, which run upon the ground 

 with more facility than the other Bats, and (along with the Vam- 

 pyres and Long-tongued Bats) are in the habit of sucking the blood 

 of animals. 



Having already, under the genus Vampyrus, treated so fully of the 

 characters and habits of the Phyllostomes, little additional will be re- 

 quired in this place. The alar membranes are of large dimensions, arising 

 from the additional phalanx of the middle finger, viz. the unguinal one, 

 which, however, has no nail, but a cartilage bent and drawn inwards by 

 the membrane. The interfemoral extends across from limb to limb, and 

 usually projects outwards ; at the same time this great extent receives 

 but an inconsiderable support from the os coccyx. Some of the Phyl- 

 lostomes are destitute of tails ; and among those in which they appear 

 they are usually short, and very partially engaged in the membrane, pierc- 

 ing it either above or beneath. 



(A.) Tail-less Javelin-Bats. 



1. PHYLLOSTOMA PERSPICILLATTJM — SPECTACLED 

 JAVELIN-BAT. 



Syn. La Lunette Cuv. Regn. Anim. I. 117. 



Icon. PHYLLOSTOMA perspicillatum. — Geoff. Ann. Mus. XV. pi. 1 1, (head.) 



D'Orb. Voy. (Mamm.) pi. 9, fig. 7 and S. 



Grand fer-de-lance. — Buff. Hist. Nat. Suppl. pi. 74. 



specific characters. 



The Hair dark brown above, light brown beneath ; a white band ex- 

 tends from the nose to each ear. 



