THE HORSE SHOE BATS. 



31 



tion which is true concerning some of the species. It applies to all those 

 which have the nose-leaf simple and transversal, and which will he found 

 arranged in the first section of the genus ; in these we may say there is 

 no operculum, or it i3 very imperfectly developed, their ear is straight, 

 without the tragus, or any conspicuous lobe. On the other hand, all 

 those species which have a complicated nose-leaf, or one in the form 

 of a spear-head, and which go to form the second section of our ar- 

 rangement, are possessed of an inferior lobe more or less distinct, and 

 transversal, detached from the ear by a furrow more or less marked, and 

 which effects the closing of the organ as completely as it is possible to con- 

 ceive that any other apparatus could do. This lobe is in a remarkable 

 degree developed in some species which belong to India, of which we 

 may mention the Trifoliatus, Lucius, Eurotis, and Diadema ; it is also 

 very distinct in some of the European species. 



The organ of smell presents a complication in this genus similar to 

 what we have seen in the Megadermata, and such as we shall find in some 

 genera which succeed. The nasal chambers do not extend beyond the 

 first molars, and are tortuous and globose ; the entrance to the nostrils is 

 found in front and below ; it is a large opening which the intermaxillary 

 bones, reduced to two thin laminae, terminate, and which accompany the 

 motions of the lips ; these latter parts, again, rising in folds as high as the 

 chanfrin, leave between themselves and the nasal chambers a void space, at 

 the bottom of which, and as it were in a tube, are the openings of the two 

 nostrils, a fold of the skin protecting and clothing the tube, and forming a 

 concha. This fold projects from the nostrils in the form of a horse-shoe, 

 whence the Rhinolophi of Europe have derived their name; and it is de- 

 tached and rises backwards in a leaflet which differs in form in the dif- 

 ferent species. The thickness of the lips results from the aggregation 

 of the muscular fibres, which are entwined with eacli other and opposed 

 in their course. The intermaxillary laminae, and in their absence the 

 mere cartilage which is their substitute, are moved by those fibres, and 

 follow all the vibrations of the organ of smell. 



The result of the inquiries hitherto made lead to the conclusion, that 

 none of the genus Rhinolophus have as yet been found in America, nor 

 in the region known under the name of Oceanica; the Sonda Islands, 

 along with India, Asia, Africa, and Europe, supplying the types of the 

 group. 



The Rhinolophi, as we have seen of some other genera, spend a great 

 part of the year united in bands of many hundreds of individuals of the 

 several sexes in immense caverns, old buildings, or in the enormous 

 trunks of the worm-eaten trees of the virgin forests. When the season 

 of love is past, the females separate from the males, establish them- 

 selves in large bands in distinct caverns, and occupy themselves in 

 each other's society, in the care of the two little ones they bring into the 

 world ; the males, at this period, also live in bands ; and the social ha- 

 bits of the whole family are not resumed till the young ones are in a 

 condition to provide for their own wants. M. Temminck informs us that 

 he has reason to suppose that this kind of separation occurs among the 

 majority of the Chiroptera, and that the young of the first year congre- 

 gate by themselves. 



We shall now make a Cevf remarks upon the labours of those Natural- 

 ists who preceded M. Temminck in his meritorious exertions. Lin- 

 naeus, Erxleben, and Bechstein, took into their accounts neither the 

 dental, aural, nor odoriferous organization of these Bats, which so remark- 

 ably distinguishes them from all their European congeners, but associated 

 them all under the common name Vesperlilio. Linnaeus, moreover, con- 

 founded the two distinct European species, ascribing their dissimilarity 

 to a local and accidental cause, and classed them together under the 

 name of V. fcrram equinum, and for along time his disciples maintained 

 the erroneous opinion of their master. Bechstein was the first who 

 distinguished the European species into two, assigning the name Hipposi- 

 deros to the second; mistaking, however, another animal for it. Dau- 

 benton was at last right, distinguishing them as the large and small Fer- 

 ii-cheval. M. Geoffroy afterwards published a memoir upon the Chir- 

 optera with a compound nose-leaf, and separated these species under the 

 generic title Rhinolophus, adding four foreign species ; Cuvier adopted the 

 views of his worthy colleague, and Dr Horsfield reviewing the species, 

 added several from Java. 



M. Temminck divides the genus into two sections ; in the former of 

 which he places all the species which have the nose-leaf not complicated, 

 with a smooth edge, placed transversely, ribband-like, on the chanfrin ; 

 these have no distinct lobe at the base of the concha of the ear, or, at 

 all events, it is very insignificant: this section has no representative in 

 Europe. The second group includes those species which have the nose- 

 leaf more or less complicated, elevated in the form of the lance-head, and 

 having a cartilaginous leaf-stalk; these animals have a marked lobe at 

 the base of the aural concha, and this lobe, more or less developed, is 

 used in closing the auditory foramen, and is the substitute of the more 

 largely developed tragus of the other genera of the Chiroptera. The two 

 European species belong to this section. 



(A.) With a simple Nose-leaf, transversal, 



AND MORE OR LESS CIRCULAR. 



(Hippoi-iDERos,) Gray. 



1. RHINOLOPHUS NOBILIS KEBBLECK HORSE-SHOE BAT. 



Syn. et Icon. Rhinolophus nobilis Horsf. Jav Temm. Mon. Mam. II. 



10, pi. 28, pi. 29, lig. 1. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair chestnut-brown above, paler beneath ; on the sides of the 

 neck, abdomen, and arms, whitish. 

 The Tail as long as the tibia. 

 The Nasal Appendage with the edge notched. 

 The Ears broad and pointed. 

 Inhabits Java, the Moluccas, and Timor. 



This is the largest of the known Rhinolophi ; its total length being 

 about five inches, of which the tail and membrane occupy one and a 

 half inch ; its extreme breadth is nineteen inches. Dr Horsfield supplied 

 a description of the first specimens which reached Europe, since which, 

 M. Temminck has received others from Java and the Moluccas, and 

 some from Timor. Its head is large; the ears are simply shell-shaped, 

 nearly as broad as they are high, without any distinct lobe, and clothed 

 with fur exteriorly at their base. The nose -leaf is simple, with its ter- 

 minal edge notched somewhat like a crown ; behind, and at the base of 

 this leaf, there exist four small orifices or syphons, almost imperceptible 

 to the naked eye ; the horse-shoe discharges the office of a funnel, and 

 consists of a broad membrane, which is pointed forwards, and of lateral 

 folds ; th.e tail is half the length of the fore-arm. In the adult the two 

 upper incisors are approximated and converging ; the four lower are 

 lobed, and more or less crowded according to the development of the 

 heel of the canines. There are five molars above, the one connected 

 with the canine being very small, and without any apparent function. 

 The fur is very soft and fine ; it is also long, abundant, and shaggy. The 

 shoulders and middle of the back are of a fine chestnut colour ; below, the 

 shoulders and the lateral parts of the back are pure white ; the top of the 

 head and the back of the neck are whitish-grey ; the tips of the hair being 

 brown ; at the region of the head of the humerus a chestnut band surrounds 

 the white; the sides of thechest, the flanks, and arms, are pure white; the 

 cheeks and sides of the neck brownish-grey, the hairs tipt with white ; 

 the middle of the chest and abdomen mouse-coloured. The membranes 

 are of a deep brown; the ears are clad nearly to their middle, the re- 

 mainder is naked, and marked with striae. These are the markings of 

 the adult ; those of the young and mean age are still wanting to complete 

 the history of this beautiful species. 



The nobilis appears, as already stated, to have a wide distribution. 

 Two specimens exist in the museum belonging to the Honourable East 

 India Company, and numerous specimens in those of the Netherlands. 

 It issues from its native haunts in the evening, flying about the roads and 

 shady walks, and during the day clings in preference to the leaves of the 

 Banana-tree, (Musa sapient urn.) It feeds on nocturnal insects. The 

 Javanese call it Kebbleck. 



2. RHINOLOPHUS DIADEMA.— DIADEM HORSE-SHOE BAT. 



Syn. et Icon. Rhinolophcs Diadema. — Geoff. Ann. Mus. XX. 2C3, pi. 6, 

 pi. 5, (head.)— Temtn. Mon. Mam. II. 12 ; pi. 26 and 27, 

 copied from Geoff. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair golden reddish-brown above, greyish beneath, and on the- 

 head. 



The Tail as long as the tibia. 



The Nasal Appendage resembling a crown ; the upper margira 

 rounded. 



The Ears broad and pointed. 



Inhabits Timor. 



The Diadem Rhinolophus is somewhat less than the preceding, its 

 leneth being five inches, two of which go to the tail, and the extreme 

 breadth sixteen. The head is small in proportion to the size of the ears,, 

 which are large, and higher than broad, the pointed extremity being 

 somewhat curved backwards ; they are naked, diaphanous, and have 

 something like a lobe towards the base of the concha. The nose-leaf is 

 simple, the terminal edge being in the shape of a quadrant, more or less 

 tolled upon itself; another transverse folicie, somewhat elevated into a 

 point towards the centre, is found between the great leaf and the nostrils ; 

 its lateral margins unite with the horse-shoe, and orm, as pointed out by 



