333 
NATURAL HISTORY . 
with the Pliyllostomidse in the presence of nasal appendages, and in the possession of three phalanges 
in the middle finger, we have preferred to leave them in that family, at the same time indicating their 
striking divergences from all its other members. 
The dentition in these Bats is most singular, and as we shall see, its peculiarities are so associated 
with the exceptional habits of the animal, as to have far greater weight in the question of classification 
than we have accorded to the dental characters in other families. In fact these peculiarities, in 
combination with certain points of internal anatomy, are so remarkable that Professor Huxley has 
suggested the formation for the Desmodonts of a distinct group (ffcematopJdlina) of the Microchiroptera, 
which he apparently regards as equivalent in classificational value to all 
the rest of the sub-order taken together. 
The remarkable conformation of the teeth will be easily seen by 
reference to the annexed figure. The upper incisor teeth, four * in 
number in the young animal, become reduced to two in the adult, but 
these are of enormous size, prominent, triangular, and very sharp. The 
lower incisors, on the contrary, are small and have a two-lobed crown. 
The canines of the upper jaw are nearly of the same form as the incisors, 
but rather smaller; those of the lower jaw present no remarkable 
skull or desmodus. ( Nat . size .) peculiarity. The molar series of teeth, however, are most peculiar — 
there are two in the upper and three in the lower jaw, but the whole of 
them are small, compressed, sharp-edged, and furnished with only a single root, thus presenting the 
characters of premolars, as which, indeed, they are regarded by some writers. If this view of their 
nature bo correct the Desmodonts have no true molars. 
In general characters these Bats approach the Stenoderms. The tail is entirely deficient ; the 
interfemoral membrane forms a mere border to the legs ; the ears are of moderate size and furnished 
with a small tragus ; and the nasal appendage consists only of the part analogous to the horseshoe in 
other genera, the upper leaf being absent. The thumb is very long and strong. The only species of 
the genus Desmodus (D. rufus) measures about four inches in length, and some fifteen or sixteen inches 
in expanse of wing. The fur varies considerably in colour, but generally shows various tints of brown, 
from a reddish-brown, as in the specimen originally described by Prince Maximilian, through a plain 
brown, to ashy-brown and mouse-colour, variations which have induced zoologists to describe several 
distinct species, now, however, generally regarded as identical. This species in its various forms 
seems to be very generally distributed in all the warmer parts of South America, from Chili to 
Guiana. As already stated, it appears to be the only species that has been detected in the act of 
blood-sucking ; and by some of the most recent authorities it and its near ally, Diphylla ecaudata , 
are believed to be the only South American Bats which are really guilty of that atrocity. 
Dr. Hensel, who has discussed this matter at some length, in connection with his observations on 
the Bats of Brazil, remarks that the teeth of most of the Phyllostomkhe are like those of the true Car- 
nivora, and the wounds inflicted by them, as may easily be observed by the captor of one of them, are 
of the same kind as those produced by the teeth of a small Carnivore. In the latter, as he says, there 
is no loss of substance ; the bite consists usually of four punctures, where the canine teeth have pierced 
the skin, and severe bleeding occurs only when these teeth have penetrated to some depth, and injured 
one oi’ more of the larger vessels. 
But the wounds observed on Horses or Mules that have been bitten by blood-sucking Bats are, 
as already stated, of quite a different character. They form small oval surfaces, which are but slightly 
sunken, the surface of the cut not being perpendicular to that of the spot bitten, as would be the case 
in wounds produced by long canine teeth, but in a general way parallel to it. A similar wound would 
be produced by lifting a small portion of skin by means of a pair of forceps, and then passing a knife 
along the surface of the skin, as if to shave it, but so as to cut away the raised portion. By a cut or 
bite of this kind, notwithstanding its being so superficial, a portion of substance is always lost, a great 
number of fine cutaneous vessels are cut through, and an abundant and long-continued bleeding is 
* According to Professor Gervais ; some zoologists make the number of incisors in the first dentition six. The first teeth 
differ entirely in character from those of the adult animal. 
