BATS 
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rifle, whilst the fisherman by a tap on the back of the head 
saves from suffering the trout he has taken, before placing it in 
his basket. “ A merciful man is merciful to his beast, ” is a 
good old saying, yet how often do we see horse and ass ill- 
treated, and hear unfortunate dogs that are tied up to damp 
kennels without straw, calling out for mercy through long winter 
nights. Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
September, 1900. 
BATS. 
NE of the most clearly defined orders of mammalia is 
that of Cliiroptera, or bats, by reason of the modifica- 
tion of the arms and fingers into true wings which have 
the power of flapping and propelling the animal through 
the air. The flight of the bat is of course quite different from 
that of the “ flying lemurs,” whose “ wings ” are merely a kind of 
parachute, formed by the joining of the arms and legs with a con- 
tinuation of the body. Their locomotion in the air is nothing but 
the effect of the air bearing them up as they leap from bough to 
bough. Of course it is preposterous to suppose that bats are 
descended from the pre-historic Pterodactyles, which have now, 
for many centuries, been extinct. The great objection to that 
supposition is, that the Pterodactyles were reptiles, and bats 
are mammals. 
The bats number about four hundred and eighty distinct 
species, and are scattered all over the tropical parts of the old 
world. They are divided into two suborders. The fruit- 
eating bats or Megacliiroptera ; and the insect-eating and 
blood-sucking bats, or Microchiroptera. 
Of the Megacliiroptera the most noticeable are the fox-bats 
(Pteropus), which are so called on account of their red fox-like 
fur. They are the largest of the bat tribe, some of them measur- 
ing about 4-5 feet across the expanded wings. The fox-bats 
abound in India and Java, and effect great damage in the plan- 
tations and fruit gardens. The fox-bats, like all others, are 
nocturnal in their habits, and sleep, suspended head-downwards, 
during the day. The largest fox-bats are the Indian fox-bat 
[Pteropus medius), and the Philippine fox-bat ( Pteropus jubatus). 
Another genus of fruit eaters is Cephalotes or tube-nosed 
bats, whose nostrils are prolonged into two tubes, the special 
object of which has yet to be discovered. 
In Africa Pteropus is not represented, but its place is taken 
by the epauletted fruit-bats ( Epomorphorus ) which have a tuft 
01 hair on each shoulder, and the hammer-headed bats ( Hypsi - 
gnathus). All the family of Pteropodidce have their teeth 
adapted for munching fruit. 
