THE BULL-DOG BATS OF THE OLD CONTINENT. 
19 
The first published description and representation of this Bat of tlie Old 
Continent was supplied by Dr Horsfieid, in ins Zoological Researclies in 
Java, and tliis was sliortly afterwards followed by the original drawings and 
accounts of Temminck ; so that our information regarding it is tolerably satis- 
factory and minute. It is about the size of the Barbastelle Bat, being nearly 
four indies long, and a foot across from tip to tip of the wing. The alar 
membranes appear long and slender, on account of their narrowness. 
The lips are very thick and broad ; tlie upper being wrinkled vertically 
with very deep folds, the lower being covered with warts. The inter, 
femoral membrane proceeds nearly at right angles from the ankle-joint, 
and envelopes the larger half of the tailj the remainder is quite free. 
The ears, which are very large, are united on the chanfrin, and have a 
border on the outer margin. 
The following is Dr Horsfield’s description of the canine teeth. The 
canines are remarkable in both jaws ; in the upper they present interiorly 
a very sharp cutting edge ; in the lower jaw they are of uncommon size, 
greatly distended at the base, and provided with a strong, obliquely di- 
verging process, resembling a thorn, which forces the front teeth in an 
oblique direction forward. This peculiar structure serves to prevent the 
escape, and to secure in the interior of the mouth, the minute insects 
which are seized in the rapid movements of these creatures, until they 
can be conve)’ed to the buck part of the mouth, where the grinders fur- 
nish a most effectual apparatus for their immediate destruction. 
The fur is very short, soft, and smooth ; that on the upper part of tlie 
body is a blackish-brown, underneath it is ash-coloured. The very thick 
upper lips are studded throughout their whole length with a series of 
transverse warts, as is also the lower, but to an inferior extent. The in- 
lerfeinoral membrane is supported by rudimentary ossicula. 
The Island of Java is ilie only locality in which tliis species has hitherto 
been observed, though it is probable that they are also observed in Su- 
matra and Banda. 
Dr Horsfieid supplies the following particulars concerning the habits 
of this and the allied species. They feed at night. During my residence 
on the hills of Prowoto, tlieir pursuit afforded me occasional amusement. 
They are peculiarly ahundanl on these hills, which are covered with a 
luxuriant vegetation, and afford a plentiful supply of their favourite food. 
They appeared after sunset, wliile the light was still sufficient for the 
pui pose of distinguishing objects clearly. Observing them almost uniformly, 
and in quick succession, to direct their flight along the hedges which sur- 
rounded a village in which I bad my abode, I watched them in this situa- 
tion, and readily caught them with a largo net. By this means I obtained 
them' in great numbers. 
12. DYSOPES ./EGYPTIACUS.— GEOFFROY’S BULL-DOG BAT. 
Syn. et Icon. Nyctikomus JEgypiiacos. — G eoff. Descr. D’Egypte, tome I. 
pi. 2, fig. 2. 
Dysopes Geoffroyi. — Temm. Mon. Mam. I. 226 PI. 19 
FI. 24, fig. 9, (teeth.) 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
' The Hair red above, brown beneath ; a margin of white hairs on the 
alar membranes along the sides. 
The Interpemoral Memdrane destitute of muscular bands. The 
Tail free for one-half of its length. 
Inhabits Egypt. 
This species was first discovered by M. Geoffrey during the French 
Ex|)edition to Egypt, was described by him in the Jllem. de I'lnslitut 
d’Egypte, and represented in the accompanying atlas. More lately it was 
again sent from Egypt by M. Ruppell to M. Cretzschmar, keeper of the 
Museum at Frankfort, wlio subjected it to M. Temminck’s inspection, so 
that all doubt is removed from its leading characteristics. Its habits, 
however, are still but little known ; it is found among the catacombs and 
the subterranean vaults of the great deserted edifices. 
The length of this Bat is about four inches, witli an extreme breadth 
of ten. The ears, moderate in size, are roundish, but curved somewhat 
irregularly at their anterior margin j its base is provided with an internal 
operculum, and a second one externally, which is of a lenticular shape. 
Their inner margins do not coalesce. The tail is of the length of the 
bodv, half enveloped in the intcrfemoral membrane, and without mus- 
cular bands. The (ur is close, the hair on the occiput and back of the 
neck being somewhat longer than elsewhere : a snipe of vvliite hair ex- 
tends along the alar membrane at its union with the sides. The upper 
lip is covered with wrinkles, which, however, are not very deep. Its 
markings are red above, particularly on the occiput ; brown on the abdo- 
men, with a fiiint white line running along the mesial line, and assuming 
somewhat of a rosy tint towards the flunks. 
la DYSOPES CESTONII CESTONI’S BULL-DOG BAT. 
Syn. Dinops Cesponii Savi, in Nuov. Giorn. di Letter, No. 21, p. 230,— 
No. 37, p. 46. 
Molossits Roppeelii. — Less. Mam. 
Icon. Dysopes Kuppellh. — Temm. Mon. Mam. I. 224, pi. 18 PI. 26, fig 
6, 8, 9, (cran. and teeth. } 
Dysopes Cesttonu. — Bonap.‘ Faun. Ital. 
SPECIFIC characters. 
The Hair uniform mouse grey above ; paler beneath. The Ears ex- 
cessively large, shading the face not approximated. 
The Interpemoral Membrane without muscular bands. The Tail 
or the major part free. 
Inhabits Egypt and Italy. 
Cestoni’s Bull-Dog Bat is about the size of tiie Common Bat of 
Europe. The external ears, especially the conchse are excessively large, 
quite overshadowing the face ; their internal margins, however, are not 
united, but project from the forehead by a common base, a large internal 
fold al the same time covering the eyes. The base of the ear is pro- 
vided with an internal operculum, and with a second which is external, 
and lenticular in shape. The tail is of the same length with the body 
proper, and is thick, depressed, being more than half enveloped in the 
iuterfeinoral membrane, which is destiiute of muscular bands. The toes 
are covered with whitish bristles ; and the great one is considerably freer 
than the others. The two upper incisors are wide apart, the six or four 
(as it may happen) inferior are crowded together, and the internal ones 
are projected forwards. There is a very small anomalous tooth in the 
upper jaw, between the canine and the first false molar. The fur is abun- 
dant, fine, close, and smooth, a large border of close hairs running along 
the origin of the alar membranes at the flanks. The muzzle is covered 
with black hairs, few and diverging; the lips are large, pendant, and 
folded. The upper parts of the body are throughout of a uniform mouse- 
grey colour, as are also the lower, but of a somewhat lighter shade. The 
alar membranes are very narrow, but the expanse from tip to tip of the 
wings is great, amounting to fifteen or sixteen inches. 
The fiist notice of this species was given by Professor Savi of Pisa, 
who, however, was acquainted with the young only. 
We owe our knowledge of the adult to the researches of M. Ruppell 
in Egypt, who has brought to light many of those animals which liad 
been indicated by Aristotle and Pliny, and concerning whicli modern Na- 
turalists had erred when they imagined tliat their prototypes were to 
be found in Southern Africa. 
14. DYSOPES PLICATUS.— CHAMCHECKA BULL-DOG BAT. 
Syn. Nyctinomus Bengalensis. — Geoff, in Instit. d’Egypte Hist. Nat. II. 
130. 
Dysopes plicatus, (Molosse Cliamcbfi.) — Temm. Mon. Mam. I. 223. 
Icon. Vespertiuo plicatus. — Buchanan, in Linn. Trans. V. pi. 13. 
specific characters. 
The Hair of a sooty brown, mixed with grey above ; paler beneath ; 
a broad hairy band, arising from the sides, at the margin of the alar mem- 
brane. 
The Interpemoral MEMURANE-naked, with muscular bands. The 
Tail free for one-hall of its length. 
Inhabits Bengal. 
The Chamcbecka Bat, to adopt its Hindoo name, was first described 
by the late celebrated Dr F. Hamilton Buchanan in 1 799, in tiie fifth vol. of 
the Linnajan Transactions ; it was then noticed in Egypt by M. Geoffroy, 
and Temminck tells us he saw a couple of specimens in the collection of 
a dealer in articles of Natural History in London. We sliall liere con- 
dense Dr Buchanan’s account. 
From the point of the nose to the root of the, tail it measures threa 
inches ; from the extremity of one wing to tliat of tlie other twelve. Tlw 
wings and naked parts of the body are soot-colonred ; the hair is mixed 
with ash-colour, and is paler below than on the back. Tlie head is 
large, thick at the shoulders, and tapers gradually to the smul, wiiich is 
blunt, terminates in a heart-shaped margin, and projects fur before the 
lower jaw, mostly naked ; it has still some long yect bristles on it. The 
nostrils are small circular boles, remote from each other, and placed under 
the margin of the snout. The wpper lip hangs over tlie under jaw, 
at the sides, and is there deeply wrinkled with seven or eight vertical 
folds. The car^ are large, blunt, wrinkled, and somewhat pendulous: 
from being bent into several folds, they at first sight appear to he 
’ Bonap. Faun. Ital. — Iconografia dvlla Fauna Itatica di Carlo Luciano Bonaparte, Principe di Musignano. Roma, 1833, et seq. 
