POSSESSORS OF A SIXTH SENSE? 



165 



In fashioning the noses and ears of bats, Nature has done 

 some very odd and curious work. The flowers of orchids are 

 not more oddly fashioned than the heads and faces of some 

 species. 



Let it not be supposed, however, that these queer facial 

 appendages and long ears of the leaf-nosed bats are purely 

 ornamental. Dr. George E. Dobson, one of the greatest 

 authorities on bats, has pointed out 

 two very curious facts. (1) The bats 

 with small ears and no nose-leaves fly 

 most in the early twilight; and many, 

 such as the fruit-bats, fly in the day- 

 time. (2) The long-eared and leaf- 

 nosed bats prefer darkness, and seek 

 their food only at night. 



Let us see if we can find a reason for 

 this. A cruel investigator of the eight- 

 eenth century, named Spallanzani, 

 once destroyed the eyesight of several bats, then suspended 

 many silken threads from the ceiling of a room and liberated 

 the creatures. Although totally blind, the bats flew to and 

 fro between the threads, without once striking them, and were 

 equally successful in avoiding branches of trees that were 

 introduced. It now seems certain that some bats possess a 

 sixth sense, of which at present we know nothing, by which 

 they are able to fly in total darkness, and avoid even the 

 smallest obstructions. 



It seems quite probable that the long ears and nose-leaves 

 of the night-going bats aid their owners in guiding their 



bLainville's flower- 

 nosed BAT. 

 (After Peters.) 



