370 VESPERTILIO. 
souris of Buffon, and striped bat of Pennant.—A Ceylonese 
species, measuring from nose to the end of the tail two 
inches; above brown; wings striped with black, or with 
tawny and brown; changing in colour of the body, which 
is reddish-brown, with the under parts whitish; the nose 
small and short; the ears short, broad, and pointing for¬ 
wards. 
IV.—Fore-teeth in the upper Jaw two, in the lower six. 
16. Vespertilio nigrita.—Tailed yellowish-brown bat, with 
the fore-part of the head, the feet, and the tail black. The 
Senegal bat of Pennant, with a long head, nose a little 
pointed, ears short and pointed, head and body tawny- 
brown, mixed with ash-colour; under parts paler; the two 
last joints of the tail extending beyond the membrane; 
length from nose to rump above four inches; extent of wing 
twenty-one inches.—A native of Senegal. 
V.—Fore-teeth in the upper Jaw two, in the lower four. 
17. Vespertilio molussus—Tailed bat, with pendulous 
upper lip, and long tail, stretching beyond the connecting 
membrane. This is the bull-dog bat of Pennant, which has 
a thick nose; broad and round ears ; the upper part of the 
body of a deep ash-colour, the lower paler; the five last 
joints of the tail disengaged from the membrane; length 
above two inches; extent of wings nine and a half.—Found 
in the West Indies. 
Gmelin reckons two varieties, one greater, the autre chauve- 
sourisof Buffon, and the other lesser, the autre chauve-souris 
of Buffon.—Found in the American islands. 
VI.—Fore-teeth in the upper Jaw two, in the lower none. 
18. Vespertilio cephalotes.—Tailed yellowish-grey bat, 
with large head,extended lips, spiral nostrils,, subocular warts, 
and small ears without valves; the end of the tail reaches be¬ 
yond the membrane; the tongue covered with papillae and 
minute spines; the claw or thumb joined to the wing by a 
membrane, and the first ray of the wing terminated by a 
claw; the head and back of a greyish-ash colour; length 
from nose to rump three inches and three-quarters; extent of 
wings about fifteen.—This is a native of the Molucca isles. 
VII.—Fore-teeth in the upper Jaw none, in the lower 
four. 
18. Vespertilio lepturus.—Tailed bat, with tubular nostrils, 
slender tail, and a purse-shaped cavity on the interior part of 
each of the wings. This is ihe pouched bat of Pennant. 
The colour of the body is cinereous-brown; the under parts 
paler; length an inch and a half,—A native of Surinam. 
19. Vespertilio ferrum equinum.—Bat with horse-shoe 
shaped nose; ears without valves; and tail half the length 
of the body. This is the fer-a-cheval of Buffon.. The 
upper part of the body is deep cinereous; the lower part 
whitish. Gmelin mentions two varieties, greater and smaller, 
which may be the male and female ; the greater above three 
inches and a half long from the nose to the tip of the tail, 
and extent of the wings above fourteen.—Found in France, 
very rarely in England ; also about the Caspian sea. 
VIII.—No Fore-teeth. 
21. Vespertilio noveboracensis.—Long-tailed ferruginous 
bat, with short sharp nose, short round ears, and white spot 
at the base of each wing. This is the New York bat of 
Pennant; 2§ inches long from nose to tail ; tail I $ inch; 
extent of wings 10| inches; head shaped like that of a 
mouse; tip of the nose bifid; tail inclosed in a conic¬ 
shaped membrane; head, body, and upper side of the mem¬ 
brane inclosing the tail, covered with long soft hair of a 
bright tawny colour; the wings thin, naked, and dusky, 
and the bones of the hind legs very slender.—A native of 
North America, and also found in New Zealand. 
IX.—Number and order of Fore-teeth unknown to 
Gmelin, 
22. Vespertilio lasiopterus.—Tailed bat, with the mem¬ 
brane connecting the feet very broad, and covered on the 
upper part with hair. The forehead of this species, which is 
one of the largest, is very prominent and rounded: nose 
short; general colour ferruginous; the upper part of the 
wings of a paler cast; the ends and lower parts black. 
23. Vespertilio lasiurus.—Tailed bat, wdth tumid lips, and 
broad hairy tail. A small species, with upright small ears; 
tail broad at the base, terminating in a point thickly covered 
with hair; colour reddish-brown. 
24. Vespertilio auripendulus.—Tailed bat, with obtuse 
nose, and large pendant ears, with pointed tips. This is the 
slouch-eared bat of Pennant; tail long, included in a mem¬ 
brane, and terminated with a hook; colour above deep ches- 
nut, lighter on the belly, einereous on the sides; length three 
inches and four lines; extent of wing fifteen inches.—Native 
of Guiana. 
25. Vespertilio nasutus.—Tailless ferruginous bat, with 
long nose, sloping at the tip; and long upright rounded 
ears. This is the great serotine of Pennant; colour of the 
upper parts a reddish-chesnut; sides of a clear yellow; re¬ 
mainder of a dirty white: length five inches eight lines; 
extent of wings two feet.—A native of Guiana, assembling 
in great numbers in meadows and other open places; flying 
in company with goat-suckers in such multitudes as to darken 
the air. 
26. Vespertilio speoris.—Tailed bat, with a transverse 
frontal cavity. This is the pit-nose bat, and from Schreber’s 
description appears to be about the size of the common bat, 
and to resemble it in its general aspect, but differing in 
colour, which is a pale yellowish ash-brown. Its principal 
character, though not peculiar to it, is a remarkable trans¬ 
verse concavity situated on the forehead, lined with a naked 
blackish skin; the nostrils seated in a similar concavity at 
the tip of the nose.—A native of India. 
VE'SPERTINE, ad/. [vespertinus, Latin.] Happening 
or coming in the evening; pertaining to the evening.—The 
stars, their matutine and vespertine motions, rise and fall. 
Sir T. Herbert. 
VESPOLATO, a small town in the north of Italy;-6 
miles south of Navara. 
VESPUCCI (Amerigo), was the son of a Florentine of 
noble family, and became famous by giving name to the 
largest quarter of the world. He was bom in 1451, and' 
having been educated under a paternal uncle, he was sent by 
his father, in the year 1490, to conduct a commercial con¬ 
cern in Spain. At Seville he was informed of the discoveries 
made by Columbus, and imbibed the desire of distinguishing 
himself by a similar pursuit. Whether he had been pre¬ 
viously engaged in any nautical expeditions has been a subject 
of controversy, since he has claimed the honour of being the 
first discoverer of the American continent. Of himself he 
says, that having been engaged by Ferdinand, king of SpaiD-, 
to prosecute the discoveries in the New World, hesailed from 
Cadiz in Mayl497, and after touching at the Canaries, arrived 
in thirty-seven days at a land which he conceived to be 
Terra Firma; and if this account be true, he must have anti¬ 
cipated Columbus’s view of the coast of Paria by a whole 
year. But this expedition depends merely on his own state¬ 
ment ; and if we consider the high estimation in which 
Columbus was held, in the year 1497, at the court of Fer¬ 
dinand and Isabella, and that he possessed the privileges of 
viceroy and governor of all the newly discovered countries, 
we cannot suppose it credible, that any other person should 
be employed to prosecute the object above stated. Accord¬ 
ingly it has been generally believed, that Vespucci’s account 
of his first voyage is a mere fiction, or that it is antedated, in 
order to support his own claims. It has also been disputed, 
whether in the voyage which he really made in 1499, Ves¬ 
pucci was a commander or merely a passenger. It is most 
probable that he was a passenger, and that being skilful in 
astronomy, a science at that time imperfectly understood, he 
was very useful to the navigators, and much esteemed by 
them. After his return he resided for some time at Seville ; 
and upon being repeatedly invited to the court of Manuel, 
king of Portugal, he secretly quitted Spain, and went to 
Lisbon, where the king engaged him to undertake a voyage 
of 
