BATS 



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the rods. It is difficult to give any satisfactory account of this 

 phenomenon, and yet the experiments from which the knowledge 

 of it has been derived, are well authenticated, and have been fre- 

 quently repeated. It has been attributed to the great extent and 

 uncommon delicacy of the membrane constituting the wings, and 

 of that lining the car, which have been supposed to render the 

 animal capable of judging, from the impressions made upon it by 

 the air, of the relative distances and positions of external objects. 



The Common Bat The following characters belong to 



the various species of bats. The skin of the body is laterally 



The Common Bat. 



prolonged to the extremities of the toes ; the toes, or fingers of 

 the fore-limbs, much longer than those of the hinder, united by 

 broad membranes, usually without claws; the thumb separated, 

 but always very short in proportion to the other toes, except in the 

 genus pteropus, and always armed with a strong and very sharp 

 claw. The toes of the hind feet are united, very short, and pro- 

 vided with very strong nails. The cutting-teeth are sometimes 

 wanting in one of the jaws, and vary in number from two to six. 

 The canine-teeth are very strong, and the grinders in most in- 



