i68 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



beast's withers and secured the bat. In the morning the 

 spot where the bite had been inflicted was easily dis- 

 tinguished from being shghtly swollen and bloody. The 

 third day afterward we rode the horse, without any ill 

 effects." 



The structure of this bat is wonderfviUy modified in 

 harmony with its habits. The special modifications are 

 of two kinds — first, the form of the teeth ; and secondly, 

 that of the stomach. 



We have already called attention to the fact that the 

 back teeth of most bats bristle with sharp points. They 

 are also proportionately of good size, while the front or 

 cutting teeth are very small indeed. In this bat, how- 

 ever, the back teeth are reduced to a minimum both in 

 size and number, being quite rudimentary ; at the same 

 time, the two middle cutting teeth of the upper jaw are 

 of good size and provided with sharp cutting edges, like 

 lancets. 



They are thus admirably fitted to make the small 

 puncture which the animal requires to make in order 

 that it may obtain its needful nourishment. 



The stomach presents us with a structure quite unique 

 in the animal kingdom. The stomachs of most bats 

 yet noticed are more or less rounded structures, not 

 extending far either right or left from the spot where 

 the gullet enters it. It is the part on the left of the 

 gullet's entrance which is the more digestive portion, 

 and in some animals it is very much enlarged and 

 subdivided. 



The part on the right of the gullet is large in such 

 creatures as sheep and oxen, and it receives the fresh- 

 cropped herbage before digestion begins. In this curious 

 bat the left or more digestive part of the stomach is 

 reduced to a mere rudiment — the highly nutritious food 



