38 On an Australian Bat. 



found another sign by which to distinguish the true medi- 

 cinal leech from the horse-leech, viz. : the former, in the 

 spirit, changes his natural color little or not at all, while the 

 skin of the horse-leech becomes grey, like ash. 



Melbourne, July 3rd, 1858. 



Art. VII. — On an Australian Bat. No. I. By Ludwig 

 Beckek, Esq. 



[Read before the Institute, July 28th, 1858.] 

 [With a Plate.] 



On the 14th of June last, I received a bat, which showed 

 some peculiarities in habit as well as in its anatomical pro- 

 portions. I thought it worth while to figure it, and to make 

 an exact outline of the skull and teeth. I know that I risk 

 bringing before you to-night an animal perhaps already known 

 to some here or "at home," but it was and is new to me, and 

 as I have not found it figured or described, either in Gould's 

 work or in any other work accessible to me, I have made the 

 venture. 



Some gentlemen, while sitting round a chimney fire, at 

 Oakleigh, near the Dandenong Kanges, were struck by the 

 appearance of a little creature, emerging from a log of wood 

 lying in the fire. The smoke and heat had awaked the 

 animal and driven it from the resting place, which it had se- 

 lected for its winter-sleep. It was caught and secured in a 

 pickle-bottle, still containing some fluids and other matters 

 not at all suitable to a flitter-mouse's palate. Some days 

 afterwards it was placed in my hands, and I was glad to de- 

 liver it from its certainly unpleasant confinement. After 

 putting it in a warm bath, and after drying and warming it, 

 I found it as lively as if fire and pickles had never exercised 

 any influence upon it. When thrown in the air it flew about 

 in my room for a short time, and then settled in a dark cor- 

 ner, where it was soon very busy combing its fur with the 

 hind-feet, and then drawing them, or rather the nails on them, 

 in quick succession through its mouth, to clean them. With 

 the lips, teeth, and tongue, the wings, or the membranes 

 between the extremities, were cleaned, stretched, and ar- 

 ranged. When replaced on a table, it walked about with 



