G8 



mam:\ialia. 



obscure places. Their ordinary produce is two young at a birtli, [one only in the frugivorous 

 species, ami many others,] which eliug to the mamnirc of their parent, [liave their eyt;s closed 

 for a while/'] ami are of large proportional size. Thuy form a very numerous genus, present- 

 ing many subdivisions. Fn-st there re(piire to Ije sejiarated — 



Tt-iE RoussETTES {Pferojji's, Briss.), — 

 "Which have cutting incisors to earli jaw, and grinders with flat crowns, or rather tiic latter have 

 originally two longitudinal ond parallel projections, separated by a groove, and winch wear away by 

 attrition: accordingly they suhsist iJi great part upon fruits, of which they consume a vast quantity ; 

 they also ably pursue small birds and quadrupeds : [a statement which much requires confirmation.] 

 They are the largest of the tribe, and their flesh is eaten. The membrane is deeply emarginated between 

 their legs, and they have httle or no tail ; their index finger, shorter by half than the middle one, pos- 

 sesses a third phalanx, bearing a short nad (see fig. 9), which are wanting in other Bats ; but the following 

 fingers have each only two phalanges ; [their thumb is proportionally very lai-ge] ; they have the muzzle 

 simple, the nostrils ^\idely separated, the ears middle-sized and without a tragus, and their tongue studded 

 with points tliat curve backwards ; their stomach is a very elongated sac, unequally dilated, [and their 

 intestines arc much longer than in other Bats.] They liave only been discovered in tiie south of Asia and 

 the Indian Ai'chipidago ; [now, however, also in Japan, Austraha, Madagascar, and the south and west 

 of Africa. 



The species are very numerous, and have been pfreatly elucidated by the investig-ations of Temminck and 

 others, who have established most of them on a considerable number of specimens of all ages, and many 

 auatoniically. Tlicy produce early, and the sexes are separately o:reg:arious, the young: also associating apart 

 from their parents as soon as they can provide for themselves. f] They divide into 



I. Tailless Roussettes, with four incisors to each jaw ; all of which were comprehended by Linnfens under 

 his Vespertilio vampiirus. [More than twenty species are known, some of \\hich exceed five feet across. 

 One of the commonest in collections is] 



The Black-bellied Koussette { P/. edidls, Geof.)— Of a blackish brown, deeper beneath [the fur crisp and 

 coarsel ; nearly four feet m extent [sometimes, according to Temminck, upwards of live feet French, corre- 

 sponding to five feet and a half English]. It inhabits 

 the ^Moluccas and Isles of Sunda, where they are found 

 during the day suspended in great numbers to the trees. 

 To preserve fruit from their attacks, it is necessaiy to 

 cover it with nets. Their cry is loud, and resembles that 

 of a Goose. They are taken by means of a bag held to 

 them at the end of a pole ; and the natives esteem their 

 flesh a delicacy; but Europeans dislike it on account of 

 its musky odour. Tlie flesh of the Common Roussette 

 (Pt. vulgaris, Geof.), an inhabitant of the Mauritius, 

 lias been compared to that of the Hare and Partridge. 



2. Roussettes with a short tail, and four incisors to each 

 jaw : [also generally less than the smaller species of 

 the preceding. At least six ai-e known, one of which 

 only {Pt. amplc^icaudatns), has tlie tail moderately con- 

 spicuous : the muzzle is comparatively somewhat shorter. 

 These two divisions comprehend all that are now 

 ranged in Pteropus ; and one species only (P^ macro- 

 cep/ialus, Ogilby), from the Gambia, presents any marked 

 departiu-e from the general character, in the great size of 

 its head, the superior magnitude and solidity of its 

 canines, and separation of the molars : allied to it is Pf. gambionus, Ogilby, from the same locality, and Pt. 

 Wlutfi, Ben., which has a singular tuft on each side of the neck. The name Epomophorus, Ben., is applied to 

 these three species by Gray.] 



3. According to t!ie indicia of M. Geoffroy, we now separate from the Koussettes 



The Cephalots {Crphalotes, Geof.), — 

 NVhich have [nearly] similar grinders, but in which the index linger, sliort, and consisting of three 



Fiff. 8.— HeatI of Pleropoi oduiis. 



• Perli.ips tlii2 frugivoruus species form an cxcc])Uon to this. The 

 oiTiera are iiakeil at birtli, but liavf tlii: limbs strung, and aiiiipted (jr 

 Clifigiii(j to Iheir parent. 



1- The snme appears t 

 Bats of Europe. — Ed. 



