2696 Quadrupeds. 



bats could be expected to withstand. If I did not attempt to account for the presence 

 of this bat, I certainly hinted at my views on the matter, by saying that a bat is a 

 very likely animal to be brought in a ship, and by observing that this specimen was 

 looked upon as a very great curiosity, as any bat would have been. Of the circum- 

 stances of its discovery I had undoubted evidence. The people who found it were as 

 much astonished and frightened at it as Mr. Gerard was surprised to see it ; and this 

 gentleman preserved it with great care, as a thing of most unusual occurrence, though 

 he did not know it was otherwise than a common bat. I may add that he is now 

 some years past eighty, and has all his life been an observer of Nature, as exhibited 

 in the Orkney Islands, and especially in South Rona^lshay. This country, entirely 

 destitute of trees, and so exposed to every wind, seems very ill adapted for the con- 

 stant residence of any species of bat ; and therefore these considerations, with the 

 evidence of the people, at once inclined me to believe it was an accidental visitant. 

 I was told at the British Museum that the characters I had observed — the hairiness 

 of the upper side of the interfernoral membrane, and the yellowish band of hair on 

 the wing underneath the principal bones — were peculiar to a family of American bats, 

 called, from the first circumstance, Dasyurus or Lasiurus ; and on my bat (for it has 

 since been very kindly presented to me by Mr. Gerard) being compared with those in 

 the Museum, it was attributed to the species called pruinosus, although considerably 

 larger than the specimens in the collection, and it may perhaps be a nearly allied 

 species. Had any species of the group been known to inhabit Europe, I should have 

 had better hopes of finding that this bat was really indigenous to the north of Britain. 

 All things considered, I have little doubt it was brought by one of the very numerous 

 vessels which pass between South Ronaldshay and John o' Groats, from various parts 

 of the world, or which lie up in the far-famed roadstead, the Long Reach, of which 

 South Ronaldshay forms the eastern breakwater. Very many exotic insects are in- 

 troduced by vessels at Liverpool and other sea-ports ; and bats can hide in a corner, 

 and do without food in cold weather, almost as well as an insect. I hope the reasons 

 I have now stated will serve to explain my contentment in looking upon this bat as 

 an intruder. — John Wolley ; Edinburgh, December 15, 1849. 



The supposed New British Mammal (Zool. 2676). — The probabilities in favour of 

 the supposition that the animal is a very young individual of Lutra vulgaris seem to 

 have the predominance. In January, 1845, two of these animals were caught in a 

 trap in the Avon, both of which I examined, and the female, weighing 14 fbs., is now 

 preserved in my collection. On referring to it, I find that the legs are well clothed 

 with thick full fur, but the toes and connecting membranes are covered with very 

 short appressed hair, the division of the two sorts being very abrupt. Is it not possi- 

 ble that the feet may remain free from hair after the body and legs have become well 

 furred ? The tail, too, has the fur at and near the base fully twice as long as it is 

 near the extremity, which the same supposition will perhaps account for. Its shape 

 is like that of the supposed new animal, being distinctly " rather flattened, and ta- 

 pering to a fine point." The feet being " rather long " may probably be accounted 

 for by the age, as all young Mammalia have the extremities large in proportion to 

 the size of the body : among the Mustelidoe, the common ferret is a fair illustration 

 of this. The claws are those of the otter, being " sharp, but rather short," and the 

 webs occupying the whole length of the toes clearly indicate aquatic habits. The 

 value of colour in many Mammalia is but trifling, unless a considerable number of 

 specimens can be obtained, and thus all the variations well ascertained. But the 



