"Animal ! you're off the track now, 

 Aunt Jane," cried Madge; "a Bat is a 

 bird. It flies about." 



"No, my dear, the Bat is a winged 

 quadruped, and is therefore somewhat 

 unusual. Although there are others, 

 such as the Flying Squirrel and Lemur. 

 The delicate membrane which stretches 

 around the Bat is used in the place of 

 the wings with which birds are furnished, 

 and is a more perfect flying apparatus. 

 The Bat has a very long middle-finger, 

 and a short thumb with a claw, which it 

 uses in attaching itself to anything. The 

 Vampire Bat has its name Vampire from 

 its habit of sucking the blood of other 

 animals, and, sometimes even of men. In 

 doing this it uses its needle-shaped teeth, 

 but causes the victim no pain, as. it draws 

 the blood. The poet says " 



"Ugh! the horrid creatures!" The 

 girls shuddered. "Surely the poets do not 

 write about Bats — such disagreeable 

 creatures." 



"Yes, Bats which have something of 

 beasts and bird appear in poetry. Gold- 

 smith says : 



'Silent bats in drowsy clusters cling.' 



"How true to nature the poet's state- 

 ment ! You know Bats do suspend them- 

 selves, head downward, during the day, 

 in some obscure place agreeable to them." 



"Do go on to 'C'," the girls entreated, 

 while the boys begged for some blood- 

 curdling stories of Vampire Bats ; but, as 

 the girls were greater in numbers and 

 insisted that they did not want their blood 

 extracted by Bats, or curdled by stories 

 about them, Aunt Jane proceeded to con- 

 sider "C." 



"There are many interesting creatures 

 under this head," Aunt Jane continued. 

 "There is the 'Coati,' with so singular a 

 foot that it is said if the creature were 

 entirely destroyed, except a single paw, 

 the usual tubercles upon it would serve 

 to identify the animal. Then, there is 

 the 'Charti,' who daintily picks the feath- 

 ers from his poultry before he eats it. 

 The 'Colugo,' with its limbs and tail con- 

 nected by a membrane, which enables it 

 to leap or fly a hundred yards from one 

 limb or tree to another. The crafty 

 'Chetah,' which Asiatics use as a quad- 

 ruped falcon to hunt game, and the 

 'Chevrotain,' the smallest of all the 



cloven-footed animals, a cousin of the 

 deer, but having no horns. But, at this 

 rate, we shall not soon make an end of 

 'C,' so we will take the handsome 'Civet' 

 as our representative." 



"It is a cat, is it not?" said Alice. 



"Wood says it is wrongly styled 

 Civet-cat." 



"Is it a native of Amerca?" Howard 

 inquired. 



"No, it is found chiefly in Abyssinia." 



"Why do you distinguish it as hand- 

 some? I fancy that little 'Ariel' you 

 passed by in 'A' is a pretty creature," 

 said Alice. 



"Indeed it is. In shape, the Civet is 

 not especially beautiful, as it is so thin it 

 has the appearance of being flattened be- 

 tween two boards ; but it is covered with 

 striking looking black and white fur, and 

 has long, white whiskers. Its eyes are 

 large, and at night glow like emeralds." 



"Is it valuable in any way?" questioned 

 John. 



"Yes, it is so valuable that it is seldom 

 killed, but is kept in perpetual captivity." 



"Poor little Civet," said Madge. "Why 

 is it kept a prisoner?" 



"On account of the perfume it yields. 

 Under the abdomen there is a double 

 pouch filled with a honey-like substance, 

 which has an odor resembling musk. The 

 Civet is too valuable to be killed as this 

 odoriferous substance is of great com- 

 mercial value. 



"The most peculiar specimen of the 

 deer family is also distinguished by a per- 

 fume pouch," Aunt Jane continued. "The 

 Musk Deer feeds upon kastoree, a bulb 

 which imparts its peculiar perfume to the 

 odorous secretions of the male deer." 



"How does a Deer get at a bulb?" 

 Howard inquired. 



"Does he dig with his horns ?" 



"No; for unlike other deer, he has no 

 horns, but he is provided with long, 

 pointed, sharp-edged tusks, as digging 

 instruments. A fleet animal is the 'Dz- 

 iggetai,' the wild ass of India and Per- 

 sia. It runs with such rapidity that it is 

 impossible to be overtaken by any animal 

 without wings. It is shy and wary, as 

 well as fleet, and the troop obey their 

 leader absolutely, and, in this respect, fur- 

 nish an example of obedience which it 

 would be well for you children to imi- 

 tate." 



