PERUVIAN BAT. 139 
of the body of a deep asli-colour; the lower paler: 
the tail long; the five last joints entirely disen- 
gaged from the membrane. Length above two 
inches; extent nine and a half. Inhabits the 
West Indies. 
PERUVIAN BAT. 
Vespertilio Leporinus. F. caudatus, lahio superiore bijido. Lin, 
Syst. Nat. Gmel. 47. 
Tailed Bat, with the upper lip bifid. 
Noctilio Americanus. N. lahio superiore 'varicoso. Lin, Syst. Nat, 
ed. 12./. 88. 
Vespertilio catosimilis Americanus. Seh. mus, \,p. 89. /. ^^.f. I- 
- Peruvian Bat. Pennant ^adr, 
LiNN.Eus^ as Mr. Pennant well observes, car- 
ried away by the love of system, placed this spe- 
cies^ in the twelfth edition of the System a Na- 
turae, under a distinct genus, by the name of 
Noctilio; stationing it at a great distance from 
the rest of the Bats^ in the order GUres, next 
to the Squirrels. This he did merely on account 
of its having only two cutting-teeth in each jaw. 
But succeeding observations have conspired to 
prove that the number and disposition of the teeth 
diifers greatly in the different species of the Bats; 
so that if a too rigid regard were paid to this par- 
ticular, several distinct genera might be instituted 
instead of one ; but the general characters of the 
Bats are so striking as to render this perfectly un- 
necessary. 
