145 Vampyre bat. 
seemingly so well authenticated, as almost to 
enforce belief. Mr. Conclamine 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 Nieuhoff, 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. 
