164 



iVofes and Comments. 



after all, natural history is not to be neglected at the Cartwrig'ht 

 Hall, and it is very encouraging- to find that the Corporation 

 Committee is taking advantage of the advice offered by the 

 naturalists of Bradford. 



BATS. 



Interesting though Bats are, they seem to be strangely 

 neglected by naturalists, and it is only rarely that much 

 attention is paid to them. It has recently been shown in this 

 journal'-^ that in one Yorkshire locality seven out of the eight 

 species recorded for the county have been observed. In the 

 Memoirs of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 

 just issued!, ]Mr. Chas. Oldham contributes a valuable paper 

 ' On some habits of Bats, with special reference to the Lesser 

 Horseshoe Bat [Rhinolophiis hipposiderus).'' In this the author 

 gives the results of his observations of the habits of various 

 Bats Vv^hich he found in disused copper-mines at Alderley Edge, in 

 the Cefn Cave, and other localities. Mr. Oldham draws atten- 

 tion to many errors in connection with the habits of Bats which 

 occur again and again in 'popular' text-books, and even 

 frequently in more serious treatises on the mammalia. The 

 paper is illustrated by four photographs taken by Mr. R. 

 Newstead, which w^e are kindly permitted to reproduce (Plate 

 XL). Fig. I shows the Lesser Horseshoe Bat in repose, ventral 

 aspect ; Fig. 2 the samje, dorsal aspect ; Fig. 3 Leisler's Bat in 

 repose, dorsal aspect ; and Fig. 4 the Long-Eared Bat walking. 



MODERN SCIENCE AND MODERN THOUGHTS. 



In the recent issue of a contemporary a Fellow of the Royal 

 Societ)^ asks for information in reference to the Whitby Museum. 

 We hope that the answer which has been supplied will be satis- 

 factory to him. It is about the finest example of absolute ' rot ' 

 that we have had the pleasure of reading. We learn that the 

 museum contains ' a splendid and valuable collection of fossils, 

 minerals, shells, birds, insects, and other specimens in natural 

 history, likewise in coins, antiquaries [!], books on science, etc. 



Strangers can inspect the museum on payment of one 

 shilling each . . . and they will be well repaid. . . . The 

 aluminous schistus [sic] abounds with petrifactions, particularly 

 bones and testaceous substances. . . . Besides those 

 belonging to amphibia of the genus lacerta. many others are 



Feb. 1905, pp. 37-39. 

 t \'ol. 49, pt. 2, 1905. 



Naturalist, 



