THE JAMAICAN STENODERM. 
337 
round ears were kept in a state of rapid motion, but alternately, so as to produce an effect like that 
of a person rolling his eyes different ways. The nose-leaf was also slightly moved. 
THE JAMAICAN STENODERM * 
This is very nearly allied to the preceding species, from which it differs in its smaller size, 
being only about two inches and a half long, and in the form of the nose-leaf, which is lance- 
shaped, with regularly curved margins. It varies considerably in colour, but is usually of various 
shades of brown. 
Mr. Gosse observed the habits of this and the preceding Bat in Jamaica, and describes them as 
exhibiting a special partiality for the fruit of the Achras sapota , called in Jamaica the naseberry, a 
preference already observed by Mr. A. Bicord in the case of the Spectacled Stenoderm. Mr. Gosse 
says : — “ About a quarter of an hour after the sun has disappeared, and while the western horizon is 
yet glowing with those effulgent peak-like clouds which only a tropical sunset displays, we discover, 
by attentively watching the tree, the Bats begin to visit it. First one comes, takes a rapid flight 
around the tree, darts once or twice through the dense foliage, and winging away is lost in the light of 
the sky. Another and another comes immediately, and performs the same evolutions ; and as the 
glory of the west fades away to a warm ruddy brown, like the blush of a mulatto girl, many dusky 
forms are discerned flitting round and round. By carefully following the flight of an individual with 
the eye, we perceive that now and then he alights for a moment on some object at the extremity of a 
bunch of leaves ; but no sooner has the eye rested on the spot than the sooty wings are again spread, 
and he is pursuing his giddy 00111*80 with his fellows. The object of his attention is a ripe naseberry, 
nestled in the midst of that rosette of leaves. Occasionally the weight of the suspended Bat dislodges 
the ripe fruit, and it falls to the ground, splitting with the shock. On picking it up, we see that 
it has been just bitten, not gnawed, as by the rodent incisors of a Mouse, but nibbled in a ragged 
manner. Though the Vampires often eat, the fruit on the tree in this manner, detaching minute 
morsels, and again and again returning for more, it appears that not seldom they succeed in tearing out 
a large piece, which they carry away; for fragments of naseberry of considerable size, partly eaten 
by a Bat, are frequently found at the distance of half a mile from the nearest naseberry tree, dropped 
on the high road.” Mr. Gosse adds that this Bat also feeds on the rose-apple, and Mr. Osburn 
describes it as consuming all the same fruits as the preceding species. t 
THE DESMODUS.J 
The Desmodonts are in some respects among the most remarkable forms of Bats ; indeed, their 
characters are so peculiar that it may be a question whether they ought not to form a distinct family 
in the order Chiroptera. By some zoologists, indeed, this course has been adopted, but as they agree 
* 
* Stenoderma jamaicense. 
f Two other speeies of Stonodenns are referred to Artibeus by Professor Peters, namely, his A. fallax and A. concolor, 
both from Surinam. Both these have five molar teeth in the upper jaw, the preceding species having only four on each side. 
Three other species forming the sub-genus Dermanura , with only four molars on each side of both jaws, are Artibeus cinereus 
and quadrivittatus, from South America, and A. toltecum , from Mexico. Phyilops albomaculatus , from Cuba and Jamaica, 
and P. personatus, from Brazil, have five molars on each side in both jaws, and the palate is deeply cut out between the 
molars. In Vampyrops lineatus and vUlatus, both South American species, the number of molars is also five, but the palate 
is not so deeply cut. The typical species of the genus Stenoderma , S. rufum , resembles this, but has only four molars on each 
side in each jaw, as described by Geoffrey, but this may be due to the youth of the specimen. P pyoderma biutbialum and 
Ametrida centurio also have only four molars on each side, and the hindmost of these is very small. In the latter the face 
is much flattened. Chivoderrua villosum and pusiUum, on the contrary, have the fourth or hindmost molar larger than any 
of the rest, and are further characterised by a broad fissure which runs up from the aperture of the nose to the space be- 
tween the orbits. Sturnim lilium and chiliensis have five molars on each side, and no interfemoral membrane. The former 
is from Brazil and Paraguay, the latter from Chili. Brachyphylla cavernaruni, a curious Bat from caves in the islands of St. 
Vincent and Cuba, which is also said to occur in South Carolina, has an oval nose-leaf surrounded behind by a pit, a triangular 
fissure in the lower lip, and a rudimentary tail ; and the singular genus Centurio , including two species (C. senex and 
McMurtni), found in the West Indies and Central America, have a big, Bull dog-like bead and a flat face covered with 
naked cutaneous leaves. The teeth in Centurio resemble those of the Spectacled Stenoderm. There is no tail, and the 
wing-membranes display peculiar translucent patches. 
t Desmodus ruf us. 
