588 



ZOOLOGY. 



with the same habit of sleeping, head downward, holding on 

 by its hind feet, is the Galeopithecus of the East Indies. 

 This singular creature has been placed among the lemurs 

 by some authors. G. volans Pallas inhabits Java, Sumatra, 

 Borneo, and Siam. 





Fig. 510.— Commrin Mole (Scalops aqvalicus Linn.).— After Coues. 



Order 4. Ghiroptera. — The bats form a well-circumscribed 

 group of mammals, very distinct from any other, especially 

 in the greatly modified fore-limbs, the radius and ulna being 

 united, and the second to the fifth metacarpal bones and 

 phalanges being very long and slender, supporting a thin, 

 leathery membrane or skin, extending to the hind legs, and 

 wholly or partly enclosing the tail ; the hind toes being, how- 

 ever, free, as when at rest or in the vegetarians when feeding, 

 bats hang head downwards, holding on by their claws. The 

 sternum is slightly keeled for the attachment of the mus- 

 cles of flight. The mammary glands are pectoral. In other 

 respects, especially the dentition, the bats resemble the 

 Insectivora. The form of the teeth differs from the ordi- 

 nary insectivorous bats in those which live on fruit. The 

 vegetable-eating or fruit-eating bats have a superficial resem- 

 blance to the flying lemurs ; and because their mammae are 

 pectoral, have been placed next to the Primates. 



