54 LECTURE 11. 



vinced that this superstition was by no means con- 

 fined to the vulgar. We see, therefore, the pro- 

 priety of the LinnjEan name Vampyre or Blood- 

 Sucker applied to this kind of Bat. 



It is also to be observed, that the propensity 

 to sucking- the blood of animals is not in reality 

 confined to the Vampj^e bats, but is practised by 

 many other species; and even the common bats 

 of Europe are said to possess a similar faculty. 

 Some of the large animals of this genus are well 

 represented in the superb work of Seba, entitled 

 Thesaurus reriim Naturalium, and are repeated, 

 on a smaller scale, in Schreber's work on the 

 Mammalia. 



Bats are animals that lie torpid during the 

 winter months j sometimes concealing themselves 

 singly in any convenient cavity, and sometimes 

 hanging together in clusters under rocks, in ca- 

 verns, and sheltered places. When thus taken, 

 in a torpid state, the circulation of the blood is 

 not to be perceived by the microscope in the 

 vessels of the membrane of the wings ; but on the 



vinced of the existence of these beings, and expressed high dis- 

 pleasure against Sir Robert Walpole for speaking irreverently of 

 Vampyres. 



