146 VAMPYRE BAT* 



seemingly so well authenticated, as almost to 

 enforce belief. Mr. Condamine assures us, that 

 the large Bats have, in certain parts of America, 

 destroyed, by this means, all the great cattle 

 introduced there by the missionaries. It is af- 

 firmed by Bontius, as well as NieuhorY, that the 

 Bats of Java attack those who lie with their feet 

 uncovered, whenever they can gain access : and 

 Gumilla, who mentions a greater and lesser kind, 

 found on the banks of the Oronoque, declares 

 them to be equally greedy after human blood: 

 persons thus attacked have, in consequence, been 

 near passing from a sound sleep into eternity. 

 It is, therefore, very unsafe to sleep with open 

 windows, or in the open air, in those regions. 



P. Martyr, who wrote soon after the conquest 

 of South America, says, that in the Isthmus of 

 Darien, there are Bats which suck the blood of 

 men and cattle, when asleep, to such a degree as 

 to awaken, and even kill them. 



Lastly, Though it seems to have escaped the 

 attention of modern naturalists, the self-same fa- 

 culty has been, time out of mind, attributed to the 

 common European Bats, which are said to bite 

 sleeping persons, and to suck the blood with the 

 greatest avidity. This is mentioned by Aldro- 

 vandus, who seems to relate it as a generally-re- 

 ceived opinion; observing, at the same time, that 

 their attacks are infinitely inferior to the danger- 

 ous ones of the large exotic Bats in India and 

 America. 



