244 RECREA^TIONS OF A NATURALIST 



to withhold credence to this very curious story ; but 

 if further testimony be needed, I have only to add 

 that the contents of the stomachs which I removed 

 from the specimensreceived from Professor M'Carthy 

 were carefully examined by Professor Stewart, of the 

 Royal College of Surgeons, who recognised fish 

 scales and fin rays, while one of the prepared slides 

 shows very distinctly the lower jaw with the teeth 

 of some small fish. The late Professor G. B. Howes 

 reported that, of two specimens examined by him,^ 

 the stomach and intestine of one were empty, and 

 that the intestine of the other yielded muscular 

 fibre, and some finely divided organic matter. The 

 faeces were remarkable for their oily nature, the 

 whole field of the microscope being studded with 

 oil globules in varying stages of emulsification. 

 The muscular fibre was little digested, and laden 

 with fat in the manner well known for fishes. 



That the dentition of Noctilio leporinus is not 

 unsuited to a fish diet may be inferred from the 

 figure here given of the skull, with distended jaws, 

 drawn twice the natural size in order to exhibit the 

 teeth more clearly, while it may well be supposed 

 that a bat which could so easily crunch up cock- 

 roaches, as observed by Mr Gosse, would find no 

 difficulty in disposing of the softer bodies of delicate 

 fish fry. 



The dental formula, as may be inferred from 

 the sketch, is : — 



Incisors, -; canines, ; premolars, ; molars, ^ — ^- 



2 I 1 2 — 2 3 — 3 



The Stomach, which is little more than a sac- 



