THE BAT. ( 3 



will be figured by the pencil, in order to assist the 

 reader in identifying the creature in an easier manner 

 than if it were merely described in words. 



Of the birds I shall not be able to treat, as they 

 alone would occupy the entire space of this volume ; 

 and, for the same reason, only a short account can 

 be given of each object. 



As in the scale of creation the mammals fill the 

 highest place, we will speak of them first, taking,, as 

 far as possible, each creature in its own order. 



Perhaps there are few people who would not feel 

 some surprise when they learn that the very highest 

 of our British animals is the Bat. Usually the bat 

 is looked upon with rather a feeling of dread, and is 

 regarded as a creature of such ill-omen that its very 

 presence causes a shudder, and its approach would 

 put to flight many a human being. 



There is certainly some ground for this feeling ; 

 for the night-loving propensities of the creature, its 

 weird-like aspect, its strange devious flight, and more 

 especially its organs of flight, are so interwoven with 

 the popular ideas of evil and its ministers, that bats 

 and imps appear to be synonymous terms. 



Painters always represent their imps as upborne 

 by bats' wings, furnished with several supplementary 

 hooks ; and sculptors follow the same principle. 



In consequence, all bats and objects connected with 

 bats are viewed with great horror, with two excep- 

 tions : a cricket-bat and a bat's- wing gas-burner. 



