The Bats of British Guiana. ioi 
stretch of wings. The tongue however is very extensile, 
and can be pulled out to twice the length of the head in 
the fresh state, while the upper part of its extremity 
which is somewhat broadened out, is furnished with 
closely set fibrils, like a sort of brush, and the lower lip 
is deeply channelled, so as to make a sinus in which the 
tongue seems to work. The incisor teeth of this species are 
somewhat enlarged, the median being larger than the lateral 
pair and projecting markedly forwards, with a fine cutting 
edge, the edging of both teeth being close together. 
The other teeth are fine and sharp, much more so than in 
the foregoing species. It seems likely, from the fact that 
they are found plentifully about the outhouses on some of 
the settlements where mules and oxen are frequently 
sucked, that these bats supplement their ordinary inse6l 
diet, with the blood of the domestic animals — at any rate 
this is the form which is credited by the residents at these 
settlements with the causing of this damage to their 
stock. Owing to the form and length of its tongue, this 
bat was formerly described as being a peculiarly terrible 
blood-sucker, but this organ seems to be modified in this 
way to enable it the better to lick out the pulpy matter 
of the various fruits on which it may feed. 
The next form, Macrophyllum neuwiedii is also a 
small bat. As its name implies, the nose-leaf is very 
large; and the ears are of corresponding size. The tail 
instead of perforating the middle of the upper surface of 
the interfemoral membrane and projecting from it as in 
the two foregoing species, is continued to the extremity 
of the membrane. The incisor teeth are enlarged ; and, 
very possibly, this form also supplements its usual insect 
diet with occasional tastes of the blood of animals. 
