206 EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 
ings, which are so sensitive that they are instantly 
aware of the presence of any body met in flight, by 
the difference in the air-pressure. 
As early as 1793 an Italian naturalist found that 
a blinded bat could fly as well as one with sight. 
They were able to avoid all parts of a room, and even 
to fly through silken threads stretched in such a 
manner as to leave just space enough for them to 
pass with their wings expanded. When the threads 
were placed closer together, the blind bats would 
contract their wings in order to pass between them 
without touching. 
An English naturalist put wax over a bat’s closed 
eyes and then let it loose in a room. It flew under 
chairs, of which there were twelve in the room, 
without touching anything, even with the tips of its 
wings. When he attempted to catch it, the bat 
dodged; nor could it be taken even when resting, as 
it seemed to feel with its wings the approach of the 
hand stretched out to seize it. 
When it comes to flying, the bat is the swallow of 
the night. Sometimes it may be confused with a 
chimney-swift at twilight, but it can always be told 
by its dodging, lonely flight, while the swifts fly in 
companies and without zigzagging through the air. 
It is doubtful whether even the swallow or the 
swiftest of the hawks, such as the sharp-shinned or 
the duck hawk, perhaps the fastest bird that flies, 
can equal the speed of the great hoary bat. More- 
over, the flight of the bat is absolutely silent. He 
may dart and turn a foot away from you, but you 
