82 
The relations of this order of mammals to superstition, while no legit- 
imate part of the present history, is very interesting, and is here tran- 
scribed from the facile pen of Dr. H. Allen: 
‘‘Attendant as they are upon the quiet hours of twilight, when the thickening gloom 
is conducive to the development of superstitious feeling, Bats have always been associ- 
ated with ideas of the horrible and the unknown. In olden times, when the imagina- 
tion of the people exceeded the accuracy of their observations, it was one of the 
numerous monsters inhabiting their caverns and forests. It has done service in many a 
legend; its bite was fatal; it was the emblem of haunted houses; its wings bore up the 
dragon slain by St. George; its image is rudely carved upon the tombs of the ancient 
Egyptians; the Greeks consecrated it to Proserpine; it is part of the infernal potion of 
the witches of Macbeth, while Ariel employs it in his erratic flights. In art, its wings 
have entered largely,into the creation of those composite horrors—evil spirits ; nor have 
modern artists escaped the absurdity of encumbering the Satan of Holy Writ with like 
appendages. But of this association with the monstrous, the intelligent observer ceases 
to take note, wken the finer beauties of structure develop themselves. under his gaze. 
Upon acquaintance, he learns that in anatomical and physiological peculiarities, and 
zodlogical position, the Bat is a subject for study worthy the attention of the most con- 
emplative.” 
FAMILIES OF CHIROPTERA. 
* Bats without upright appendage on the nose. (Gymnorhina.) 
t Nostrils sub-elliptical; wing-membranes ample.; tail completely enclosed in the in- 
terfemoral membrane, or the final joint only in some instances exserted. 
VESPERTILIONIDZ. 
FAMILY VESPERTILIONIDAL. 
The above characters separate our largest family of North American 
Bats from the free-tailed Noctilionide, which have the nostrils circular, 
the alar membrane narrow, and the tail either much longer or shorter 
than the interfemoral membrane; also, from the single North American 
species of the Leaf-nosed Bats, Phyllostomatidex, which are readily recognized 
by the upright appendage surmounting the rostrum. The latter family 
is represented by the Leaf-nosed Bat, Macrotus waterhousu, Gray, of the 
West Indies, Mexico, and the southern border of the United States. 
GENERA OF VESPERTILIONIDA, 
* Cheeks without excrescences; ears moderate. 
' + Incisors : ; ; . “ ; ‘ : 5 »  VESPERTILIO. 
tt Incisors A a 4 : : ‘ ve : i ; ATALAPHA. 
GENUS VESPERTILIO (Linn.) Auct. 
Vespertilio, Linn., of authors. 
Scotophilus, Leach, Trans. Linn. Soc., xiii, 1822, 71.—Allen, Monog., 27. 
Vesperus, Keys. and Blas., Wirb. Hur., 1840, 49. 
Vesperides, Coues, antea. 
