SO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 
round, and about the size of a large Seville orange; such are, 
I think, usually flat. 
LETTER XXXVI. 
Septn: LIE. 
The summer through I have seen but two of that large 
species of bat which I call Vesfertitio altivolans, from its manner 
of feeding high in the air: I procured one of them, and found 
it to be a male ; and made no doubt, as they accompanied to- 
gether, that the other was a female; but happening in an 
evening or two to procure the other likewise, I was somewhat 
disappointed, when it appeared to be also of the same sex. 
This circumstance, and the great scarcity of this sort, at least 
in these parts, occasions some suspicions in my mind whether 
it is really a species, or whether it may not be the male part 
of the more known species, one of which may supply many 
females ; as is known to be the case in sheep and some other 
quadrupeds. But this doubt can only be cleared by a farther 
examination, and some attention to the sex, of more specimens. 
In the extent of their wings they measured fourteen inches 
and a half; and four inches and a half from the nose to the 
tip of the tail; their heads were large, their nostrils bilobated, 
their shoulders broad and muscular; and their whole bodies 
fleshy and plump. Nothing could be more sleek and soft than 
their fur, which was of a bright chestnut color; their maws 
were full of food, but so macerated that the quality could not 
be distinguished ; their livers, kidneys, and hearts were large, 
and their bowels covered with fat. They weighed each, when 
entire, full one ounce and one drachm. Within the ear there 
was somewhat of a peculiar structure that I did not under- 
stand perfectly, but refer it to the observation of the curious 
anatomist. 
