Cheirofteea. MAMMALIA. Vespertilionid.®. 
51 
stimulating arterial blood to the muscles and the brain 
is progressively reduced, relaxation of the muscular 
fibres is converted into stiff inaction, and sleep sinks 
into stupor : at length respiration entirely ceases, and 
with it those chemical changes in the capillary circu- 
lation on which animal heat mainly depends. The 
preservation of life in its passive or latent state is now 
due to the irritable property of the heart’s fibre, which 
is excited to contract by the blood in its present dark 
or carbonized state, and continues to propel it slowly 
over the torpid frame during the whole period of 
h3^bernation. This slow circulation of venous blood 
through both the pulmonic and systemic vessels is the 
only recognizable vital act during that period, and the 
material conveyed by the absorbents into the circulat- 
ing fluid is sufficient to counterbalance the slight waste 
thus occasioned. So long, therefore, as the state of 
torpidity continues, the bat is independent of supplies 
from without ; but it purchases that independence by 
a temporary abrogation of its vital faculties. Cold, 
senseless, motionless, and asphyxiated, its entry into 
death’s chamber is prevented only by its being brought 
to his very door.” Such is the sacrifice which this 
semicadaverous state involves, yet its superinduction 
furnishes the means of warding off the otherwise inevi- 
table consequence of death by starvation. On the 
approach of summer the vital forces resume by degrees 
their wonted functions, and the species again takes part 
in the pleasures of active life. 
With all our boasted national intelligence, it is sur- 
prising to how great an extent the minds of the people 
are still imbued with childish superstitions. The 
records of our police courts have recently demonstrated 
the prevalent existence of this barbarous ignorance, in 
a manner which ought to excite the deepest national 
self-reproach. Even the harmless, playful, slender 
little bat, as it innocently chases its lawful prey, is 
foolishly dreaded as an ominous visitant; and when by 
any chance an open window gives it entrance to some 
airy dwelling, what consternation marks the counte 
nances of its human occupants. Ah ! exclaims one, 
there will soon be a death in this house. Yes ! 
replies another, it is a warning to prepare ! Stupid 
peasant, and yet still more senseless lady. Can you 
not shake off such vain associations ? What is there, 
we ask, in these accidental domiciliary visitations to 
occasion mj'stery, horror, or alarm? Let the simple 
statement of these creatures’ habits which we have 
just given, invite you to admire and caress the beings 
you have hitherto regarded with gloomiest forebodings. 
Bats are found in all quarters of the globe. There 
is no considerable portion of the earth’s surface which 
cannot produce some members of the family ; but, 
as in quadrumana, certain generic types are common 
to one country, while, on the other hand distinctive 
peculiarities characterize those of another. In our 
own islands, and in Europe, all the species are insecti- 
vorous, and most of them belong to the great family of 
Vespertilionidce, being unprovided with those peculiar 
nasal leaf-like appendages formerly described. With 
regard to the distribution of bats in time, our readers 
will anticipate their recent origin in a geological point 
of view. The few and fragmentary remains with 
which we are at present acquainted, have, for the most 
part, been found in the pleistocene, or newest deposits 
of the tertiary age. Some cheiropterous fossils found 
in the old caves of Kent’s Hole, near Torqua}' in 
Devonshire, and in the Mendip hills of Somersetshire, 
are clearly referable to existing species, while those 
procured from the lower eocine formation at Kyson, 
near Woodbridge in Suffolk, and those taken from the 
Norfolk crag deposits, also belong to existing European 
genera. The fossil forms found in America appear to 
be connected with the comparatively recent pliocene 
formation. Finally, it is worthy of remark, that no 
remains of extinct Cheiroptera belonging to the fru- 
givorous class are at present known. 
Family I.— VESPEETILIONIDH 5 . 
The group of individuals associated under this head 
do not exhibit foliaceous nasal appendages. They are 
all insectivorous in their habits. They display ten 
incisive or cutting teeth, namely, four in the upper, 
and six in the lower jaw. There are, as usual, four 
canines, but a variable number of molars or grinding 
teeth. The ears are not remarkably conspicuous, 
that is to say, verj' seldom longer than the head, and 
they are disconnected at the lower part. The fingers 
are unprovided with claws. The tail is generally a 
little exserted beyond the investing interfemoral mem- 
brane. 
THE PIPISTRELLE {Vespertilio pipistrellus ). — On 
the authority of the Rev. Leonard Jenyns and Professor 
Thomas Bell, we are entitled to consider this species as 
the common bat of Britain, par excellence. Some time 
ago, these gentlemen took considerable pains to show, 
and they moreover conclusively established the fact, 
that the form of bat invariably described in the older 
British natural history works as the common bat of our 
country, although extremely abundant in continental 
Europe, was in reality referable to a species, indigen- 
ous indeed, yet comparatively rare in this couiitr3L The 
bat here spoken of as scarce, is the mouse-coloured 
vespertilio. The pipistrelle is a diminutive creature, 
and is only an inch and a half in length when full- 
grown. Its ears have an oval-triangular form, and are 
about two-thirds longer than the head, being cleft at 
the outer margin. In a state of repose it is commonly 
detected in the crevices and fissures of old brick walls, 
and especially in all kinds of recesses connected with 
human habitations. Gnats and other members of the 
dipterous class seem to constitute its favourite food, 
but it would be difficult to limit its choice in this par- 
ticular. Mr. White, in his oft quoted “ Natural History 
of Selborne,” gives an interesting account of the feeding 
of a tame bat, which in all likelihood was an example 
of the species we are now discussing. He says it was 
wont to “ take flies out of a person’s hand ; if you 
gave it anything to eat, it brought its wings round 
before the mouth, hovering and hiding its head, in the 
manner of birds of prey when they feed. The adroit- 
ness it showed in shearing off the wings of flies, which 
were always rejected, was worthy of observation, and 
pleased me much. Insects seemed to be most accept- 
able, though it did not refuse raw flesh when ofi'ered ; 
