THE HOARY BAT. 
^VERY singular animal is the bat, 
and seems to belong to several 
classes and orders. The speci- 
men we present here (Atalapha 
cinerea) is very rare in this part of the 
country, and was taken in Lincoln Park, 
Chicago. It flies through the air like 
a bird and, possessing mammae like the 
quadrupeds, suckles its young. The 
double jaw is provided with three 
kinds of teeth. With the canines and 
incisors it tears its prey like carnivo- 
rous animals, and with the molars or 
grinders it cracks nuts like rodents, 
which it resembles in the narrow, oval 
form of its head. An imperfect quad- 
ruped when on the ground, it drags 
itself along, embarrassed by the mantle 
of its wings, which fold up around its 
legs like an umbrella when closed. 
When it undertakes to fly it does so in 
an awkward manner. It first crawls 
painfully along, and with great diffi- 
culty extends its long fingers, spread- 
ing out the membrane which covers 
and binds them together. The un- 
gainly creature then quickly flaps its 
broad wings, tough as leather, but thin 
and transparent; a bird without plum- 
age, it now flies abroad in pursuit of 
insects — nocturnal like itself — or in 
search of ripe fruit, to which some spe- 
cies are particularly destructive. 
None of the bats like to raise them- 
selves into the air from a perfectly level 
surface, and, therefore, use all their 
endeavors to climb to some elevated 
spot, from whence they may launch 
themselves into the air. They climb 
with great ease and rapidity, being able 
to hitch their sharp and curved claws 
into the least roughness that may pre- 
sent itself, and can thus ascend a per- 
pendicular wall with perfect ease and 
security. In so doing they crawl back- 
ward, raising their bodies against the 
tree or wall which they desire to scale, 
and drawing themselves up by the 
alternate use of the hinder feet. When 
they have attained a moderate height, 
they are able to fling themselves easily 
into the air and to take immediate 
flight. They have the power of rising 
at once from the ground, but always 
prefer to let themselves fall from some 
elevated spot. One reason why bats 
take their repose suspended by their 
hind feet is said to be that they are 
then in the most favorable position for 
taking to the air. There may be, and 
probably are, other reasons for the 
curious reversed attitude. Even among 
the birds examples are found of a sim- 
ilar mode of repose. Members of the 
genus Coitus, an African group of birds, 
sleep suspended like the bats, clinging 
with their feet and hanging with their 
heads downward. But these birds can- 
not assume this attitude for the pur- 
pose of taking flight, as their wings are 
used as readily as those of most other 
feathered creatures, and, therefore, 
there must be other reasons to account 
for the strange attitude. 
The more closely we approach the 
torrid zone, it is said, the greater is the 
number of bats and the richer their 
variety. The South is the native coun- 
try of the majority of wing-handed 
animals. Even in Italy, Greece, and 
Spain, the number of bats is surprising. 
There, according to Brehm, who studied 
them industriously, as evening draws 
nigh they come out of their nooks and 
corners not by hundreds but by thou- 
sands. Out of every house, every old 
stone wall, every rocky hollow they 
flutter, as if a great army were preparing 
for a parade, and the entire horizon is 
literally filled with them. The swarms 
of bats one sees in a hot country are 
astonishing. They darken the sky. 
Everywhere there is a living and mov- 
ing mass flying through the trees or 
gardens and groves. Through the 
streets of the town, through houses and 
rooms flits the moving train. Hun- 
dreds are constantly appearing and dis- 
appearing and one is always sur- 
rounded by a hovering swarm. 
A feature of the wings of bats, is a 
highly elastic skin. The outer layer is 
constantly kept pliable by anointing 
with an oily liquid, secreted by glands 
in the animal's face. The structure of 
the hair is also remarkable, as each 
thread presents under the microscope 
a screw-like appearance. 
