VAMPYRUS.— THE VAMPYRE BATS. 
23 
come a valve which closes its entrance, and the folds and pads of the 
nose-leaf effect the same object at the nostrils ; so that,” continues the in- 
genious Naturalist, “ it is not without a purpose that, in the Bats, the 
cutaneous system acquires so great a development.” 
GENUS X. VAMPYRUS.— VAMPYRE BATS. 
Syn. Phyllostoma, (in part.) — Cuv. Geoff, et al. 
Vampvrus Leach, in Linn. Trans. XIII. — Spix, Less, et al. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
The Head long and narrow. The Mozzle lengthened. 
The Ears middle-sized, separate. The Auricular Operculum 
notched, placed interiorly. 
The Tongue extensile; point formed for suction ; the papilla: directed 
backwards. 
The Nose with two appendages, the one horizontal, in the form of a 
horse-shoe, the other erect, resembling a javelin. 
The Dental For.mula 
Inhabit South America. 
! 2-j-C-j-(2 F-f-3)M_16 
l2.f C-|-(3 F-f 3)M 18' 
=tc=34i. 
The appellation Vampyre was introduced into Natural History by Lin- 
nmus, and applied by him to the Great Roussetle Bats already described. 
Buffon again applied it to the animal we are now about to consider, iin- 
der the conviction that the habits which made the name applicable be- 
longed exclusively to this species. In this conclusion, it speedily ap- 
peared he was mistaken, as there were many South American Bats, 
closely allied in several of their features, all of which have blood-sucking 
propensities. MM. Cuvier and Geoffroy, about the year 1809, in exa- 
mining together the family of Bats, associated these together under the 
name of Phi/llosloma, which group becoming very numerous, has again 
been subdivided into smaller sections. The Vampyre was, of course, for 
a long time ranked by all writers, foreign and domestic, as a Phyllostoma. 
M. Geoffroy, twenty years later, (in 1829,) in his Le 90 ns, separated the 
Vampyres from the bast named group, grounding the distinction on the 
difference of the shape of the crania, those of the Phyllostomes being 
short, with a broad muzzle, whilst the cranium and muzzle of the Vam- 
pyre are very narrow: a difference likewise exists as to the number of the 
teeth. 
After these explanatory remarks, it will readily be understood that many 
of the relations which have been published concerning the blood-thirsty 
propensities of Bats, do not refer exclusively to what is now considered 
as the true Vampyre : though this, however, is the case, yet, as the last 
named animal possesses them in a prominent degree, we shall in this 
place introduce such general observations as are required for the illus- 
tration of the subject. 
It is not for a moment to be imagined that any of these animals live on 
blood alone. No more is it to be supposed that, tiiough distinguished as 
the insectivorous tribe, they confine themselves to this species of food. 
On the other hand,it is here, as previously observed, that as the frugivorous 
Bats sometimes devour flesh, so these insectivorous Bats are sometimes 
frugivorous. Nor is this to be regarded .as a rare or trivial occurrence. 
It would, on the other hand, appear that the Bats immediately under 
consideration are decidedly omnivorous, and that their depredations upon 
fruit are occasionally troublesome and as ve.xatious, as is expeti- 
enced from the rav.ages of the true Frugivorm. A fact or two will 
illustrate this. “ When the moon shone bright,” says Mr Waterton, 
“and the fruit of the Banana-tree was ripe, I could see the Vampyre ap- 
proach and eat it. Hu would also bring into the loft where 1 slept, from 
the forest, a green round fruit, something like the wild guara, and about 
the size of a nutmeg. There was something also in the blossom of the 
Sawarri Nut-tree which was grateful to him.” — (Wanderings, 179.) M. 
Palissot-Boauvois again, as mentioned by M. Geoffroy, was an eye-witness 
of the devastations they made of fruit, to the great annoyance of the agri- 
culturist. From Hayti this gentleman wrote : “ One morning my friend 
exclaimed, ‘ Shall I gather the beautiful fruit from that superb tree to-day, 
or waitforits perfect maturity to-morrow? If Itake this latter course, lam 
afr.iid of the B.its.’ The fruit was left, and the gentleman’s worst anticipa- 
tions were realized. During the night a cloud of Bats made their appear- 
ance, and left scarcely a sample behind." M. Geoffroy was so much in- 
terested in this recital, that he wrote inquiring what particular Bat had 
Wrought the mischief; specimens both of the fruit and its devourer were 
transmitted to France, and the latter turned out to be the Spectacled Ja- 
velin-Bat soon to be noticed. 
That they are .also pre-eminently insectivorous cannot be doubted; 
often have multitudes of these troublesome tribes been found in their 
stomachs after death, and in this way much must be done to keep these 
hordes in their proper subordination. 
With regard to the attacks of these creatures on the other animals and 
Man, D' Azara states that it is only in lack of their more common food that 
they resort to nobler prey. Be this as it ma}’, they are in this way often 
troublesome, and sometimes, it would appear, destructive. The range 
over which they extend seems to be wide. P. Martyr mentions the ex- 
istence of these animals at the Isthmus of Darien ; both the Ulloas report 
their presence at Carthagena ; Roume discourses of the Vampyre of the 
Island of Trinidad, and D’ Azara encountered them in Paraguay. The 
injury they produce has probably been exaggerated, and yet it is such as 
not to be despised. The great Spanish Naturalist informs us that they 
frequently attach themselves to tlie combs and wattles of the domestic 
fowl and destroy them ; not so much by the hemorrhage they produce, as 
from the injurious effects of their wounds. Mules, Asses, Horses, and 
horned Cattle, in fact, all Quadrupeds are exposed to their attack, and to 
an extent which is characterized by Mr Darwin in relation to the Horse, as 
“ often the cause of much trouble.” M. Geoffroy seems perfectly to ere- 
dit the narrative related by M. de la Condamine, that the attacks of these 
animals destroyed the herds and flocks which the first European settlers 
succeeded in conve 3 ’ing to the New World. “When some Spaniards,” 
says he, “ at the epoch of the discovery of America, detesting the cruelty 
and villany of their compatriots, were, led to cherish more honorable 
sentiments towards the Aborigines, and, in the exercise of their philan- 
thropy, thought of compensating for the massacre of man by the gift of 
the European domestic animals, the Phyllostomes frustrated this generous 
enterprise; these Bats in numbers attacked the first Cattle and Sheep 
which the missionaries transported into America, and destroyed them by 
sucking their blood.” 
Finally, in relation to Man, it is certainl}' not a little curious that the 
attacks of the Vampyres should be confined to his great toe ; for of all 
narratives we have met, this part alope has been signalized. Anothtr 
curious fact is, that it is only duririg sleep that they commit their depre- 
dations, and so dexterously as not even to awake the sufferer. These 
certainly curious circumstances have led to various hypotheses for their 
explanation, none of which, however, appears very s.atisfactory, and hence 
the phenomena are still regarded as mysterious. Buffon detected some- 
thing peculiar in the tongue of his “Vampj're,” which, in his estimation, 
constituted it a peculiar organ of suction, capable of drawing blood without 
inflicting a wound ; but unfortunately for this ingenious speculation, Buf- 
fon’s Vampyre, as staled above, was a Roussette, and not a Vampyre a 
frugi vorous, not an insecti vorous Bat, — and guiltless, in short, of such bloody 
deeds. Led on Buffon’s track, M. Geoffroy assures us he has made the 
identical discovery which Buffon had anticipated. “ The tongue of the 
Phyllostomes presents a very curious organiz-ation, whence they are en- 
dowed with a power of suction. Close to its extremity is a cavity, in the 
centre of which there is a small point in relief, and round its circumference 
are placed eight warty projections, somewhat less prominent than the cen- 
tral one.” (Ann. des Sc. Nat. XV. 1G5, Lcfons, XIV. p. 31.) And 
again, *' I have now satisfied myself that the Phyllostomes are endowed 
with a real organ of suction at the extremity of the tongue, in the midst 
of a circle of warty papilla:. The tip begins to act in a plane, which is 
quite level : in this state it is applied in immedi.ate contact to the point 
about to be operated upon ; the muscular fibres, which are attached by 
a tendon to each wart, now contract, hence thej' are all simultaneously 
approximated, and a smaller circle is formed within thd original one.” 
(Lemons, XIV. p. 3a.) This is a curious fact; hut the ingenious Natural- 
ist does not rest here. In connection with the admitted truth, that the 
blood is abstr.Tcted during sleep without wakening the subject of at- 
tack, he concludes that this could not occur if the skin were wounded as 
in an ordinary bite, and that sometimes there is no leasion in the integu- 
ment at all. This we apprehend is carrying the matter too far. That 
they inflict a wound is attested by numerous eye-witnesses. “ The 
wounds on my toes,” saj's D' Azara, “which, however, I knew nothing of 
at the lime of their infliction, were circular or elliptical, from a line to a 
line and a half in diameter; and Materton, “on the great toe tiiere 
was a wound somewhat less than that made by a leech, whence the blood 
was still oozing.” That they give pain is no more doubtful : — “ When 
bivouacking late one evening,” s.ays Mr Darwin, “ near Coquimbo, my 
servant noticing that one of the horses was very restive, went to see what 
was the matter, and fancying he could distinguisli sometliing, suddenly 
put his hand on the beast’s withers, and secured a Vampyre." (Zoo!, 
of the Beagle, Mam. p. 2.) ’I'he mystery is probably less than usually 
iinugincd. The leech, though its bite is sufficiently sharp, is often ap. 
plied to man asleep without awakening him. The teeth of the Vam- 
pyre are sharp; a sliglit incision, with the help of the sucking apparatus, 
is all that is required, and the sleeper’s repo.se is undisturbed. 
The quantity of blood drawn by tlic Vampyre does not appear to bo very 
great ; but considerable ooziug often continues, so that much may be lost. 
The wound is troublesome for a few days, but in man usually heals without 
