BATS

A race of beings, to which the epithet mysterious may be with some truthrnapplied, affords more interest from its peculiar habits, than from anyrnproof which can be given of its mental powers; and its place in thisrnwork is due to the marvellous histories which have been relatedrnconcerning it, and which have made it an object of superstitious alarm.rnrnBats, or Cheiroptera, are particularly distinguished from all otherrncreatures which suckle their young, by possessing the power of flight. ArnLemur Galeopithecus, which exists in the Eastern part of the globe,rntakes long sweeps from tree to tree, and owes this faculty to thernextension of its skin between its fore and hind limbs, including therntail; but it cannot be really said to fly. The Bats, then, alone enjoyrnthis privilege; and the prolongation of what, in common parlance, wernshould call the arms and fingers, constitutes the framework whichrnsupports the skin, or membrane forming the wings. The thumbs, however,rnare left free, and serve as hooks for various purposes. The legs, andrntail (when they have any), generally help to extend the membrane of thernwing; and the breast-bone is so formed as to support the powerfulrnmuscles which aid their locomotive peculiarities. They climb and crawlrnwith great dexterity, and some will run when on the ground; but it isrndifficult for most of them to move on a smooth, horizontal surface, andrnthey drag themselves along by their thumbs. A portion of the Cheiropterarnfeeds on insects, and another on fruits; one genus subsists chiefly onrnblood. The first help to clear the atmosphere of those insects which flyrnat twilight; the second are very destructive to our gardens andrnorchards; the last are especially the object of that superstitious fearrnto which I have already alluded. They are all nocturnal or crepuscular,rnand during the day remain suspended by the sharp claws of their feet tornthe under-branches of trees, the roofs of caves, subterranean quarries,rnor old ruins, hanging with their heads downwards; multitudes live in therntombs of Egypt.rnrnThe appearance of Bats is always more or less grotesque; but this termrnmore aptly applies to those which live on animal food, in consequence ofrnthe additions made to the nose and ears, probably for the sake ofrnincreasing their always acute senses of smell and hearing. The ears arernfrequently of an enormous size, and are joined together at the back ofrnthe head; besides which they have leaf, or lance-shaped appendages inrnfront. A membrane of various forms is also often attached to the nose,rnin one species the shape of a horse-shoe. The bodies are always coveredrnwith hair, but the wings consist of a leathery membrane. Anotherrnsingularity in one genus is the extremity of the spine being convertedrninto two jointed, horny pieces, covered with skin, so as to form a boxrnof two valves, each having an independent motion. The large bats of thernEast Indies measure five feet from the tip of one wing to that of thernother, and they emit a musky odour. The skin of the Nycteris Geoffroyirnis very loose upon the body; and the animal draws air through openingsrnin the cheek pouches, head, and back, and swells itself into a littlernballoon; the openings being closed at pleasure by means of valves. Thernbite of all is extremely sharp; and we seldom hear of an instance of onernbeing tamed. They try to shelter themselves from chilly winds, andrnfrequent sheltered spots, abounding in masonry, rocks, trees, and smallrnstreams.rnrnAbout the Vampire, or the blood-sucker, there are different opinions:rnthat of the East is said to be quite harmless; but it is asserted thatrnthe South American species love to attach themselves to all cattle,rnespecially to horses with long manes, because they can cling to the hairrnwhile they suck the veins, and keep their victim quiet by flapping theirrnwings over its head; they also fasten themselves upon the tail for thernfirst reason, and a great loss of blood frequently ensues. Fowls arernfrequently killed by them as they roost upon their perches, for sornnoiseless and gentle are they in their flight and operations, thatrnanimals are not awakened out of their sleep by their attacks. The teethrnare so disposed that they make a deep and triple puncture, and one wasrntaken by Mr. Darwin in the act of sucking blood from the neck of arnhorse. This able naturalist and accurate observer is of opinion, thatrnhorses do not suffer from the quantity of blood taken from them by thernVampire, but from the inflammation of the wound which they make, andrnwhich is increased if the saddle presses on it. Horses, however, turnedrnout to grass at night, are frequently found the next morning with theirrnnecks and haunches covered with blood; and it is known that the batrnfills and disgorges itself several times. Dr. Carpenter is of the samernopinion as Mr. Darwin, and also disbelieves that these creatures sootherntheir victims by fanning them with their wings.rnrnCaptain Stedman, who travelled in Guiana, from 1772 to 1777, publishedrnan account of his adventures, and for several years afterwards, it wasrnthe fashion to doubt the truth of his statements. In fact, it was arngeneral feeling, up to a much later period than the above, thatrntravellers were not to be believed. As our knowledge, however, hasrnincreased, and the works of God have been made more manifest, thernreputation of many a calumniated traveller has been restored, and, amongrnothers, that of Captain Stedman. I shall, therefore, unhesitatinglyrnquote his account of the bite of the vampire, "On waking, about fourrno'clock this morning, in my hammock, I was extremely alarmed at findingrnmyself weltering in congealed blood, and without feeling any painrnwhatever. Having started up and run to the surgeon, with a firebrand inrnone hand, and all over besmeared with gore, the mystery was found to be,rnthat I had been bitten by the vampire or specter of Guiana, which isrnalso called the flying dog of New Spain. This is no other than a bat ofrnmonstrous size, that sucks the blood from men and cattle, sometimes evenrntill they die; knowing, by instinct, that the person they intend tornattack is in a sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet,rnwhere, while the creature continues fanning with his enormous wings,rnwhich keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe,rnso very small indeed, that the head of a pin could scarcely be receivedrninto the wound, which is consequently not painful; yet, through thisrnorifice, he contrives to suck the blood, until he is obliged torndisgorge. He then begins again, and thus continues sucking andrndisgorging till he is scarcely able to fly, and the sufferer has oftenrnbeen known to sleep from time into eternity. Cattle they generally biternin the ear, but always in those places where the blood flowsrnspontaneously. Having applied tobacco-ashes as the best remedy, andrnwashed the gore from myself and my hammock, I observed several smallrnheaps of congealed blood all around the place where I had lain, uponrnthe ground; upon examining which, the surgeon judged that I had lost atrnleast twelve or fourteen ounces during the night. Having measured thisrncreature (one of the bats), I found it to be, between the tips of thernwings, thirty-two inches and a half; the colour was a dark brown, nearlyrnblack, but lighter underneath."rnrnMr. Waterton, whom all the world recognizes as a gentleman, andrnconsequently a man of truth, laboured at one time under the same stigmarnof exaggeration as Captain Stedman, and many other illustriousrntravellers; and he confirms the blood-sucking in the followingrnterms:--"Some years ago, I went to the river Paumarau, with a Scotchrngentleman. We hung our hammocks in the thatched loft of a planter'srnhouse. Next morning I heard this gentleman muttering in his hammock, andrnnow and then letting fall an imprecation or two, 'What is the matter,rnSir,' said I softly, 'is anything amiss?' 'What is the matter!' answeredrnhe surlily, 'why the vampires have been sucking me to death.' As soon asrnthere was light enough, I went to his hammock, and saw it much stainedrnwith blood. 'There,' said he, thrusting his foot out of the hammock,'see how these imps have been drawing my life's blood.' On examining hisrnfoot, I found the vampire had tapped his great toe. There was a woundrnsomewhat less than that made by a leech. The blood was still oozing fromrnit, and I conjectured he might have lost from ten to twelve ounces ofrnblood."rnrnMr. Waterton further tells us, that a boy of ten or eleven years of agernwas bitten by a vampire, and a poor ass, belonging to the youngrngentleman's father, was dying by inches from the bites of the largerrnkinds, while most of his fowls were killed by the smaller bats.rnrnThe torpidity in which bats remain during the winter, in climatesrnsimilar to that of England, is well known; and, like other animals whichrnundergo the same suspension of powers, they have their histories of longrnimprisonment in places which seem inimical to life. There are twornaccounts of their being found in trees, which are extremely curious, andrnthe more so, because the one corroborates the other. In the beginning ofrnNovember, 1821, a woodman, engaged in splitting timber for rail-posts,rnin the woods close by the lake at Haining, a seat of Mr. Pringle's, inrnSelkirkshire, discovered, in the centre of a large wild-cherry tree, arnliving bat, of a bright scarlet colour, which, as soon as it wasrnrelieved from its entombment, took to its wings and escaped. In the treernthere was a recess sufficiently large to contain the animal; but allrnaround, the wood was perfectly sound, solid, and free from any fissurernthrough which the atmospheric air could reach the animal.rnrnA man engaged in splitting timber, near Kelsall, in the beginning ofrnDecember, 1826, discovered, in the centre of a large pear-tree, a livingrnbat, of a bright scarlet colour, which he foolishly suffered to escape,rnfrom fear, being fully persuaded (with the characteristic superstitionrnof the inhabitants of that part of Cheshire), that it was "a being notrnof this world." The tree presented a small cavity in the centre, wherernthe bat was enclosed, but was perfectly sound and solid on each side.rnThe scarlet colour of each of these prisoners seems at present to berninexplicable, and makes these statements still more marvellous.rnrnProfessor Bell, in his admirable work on British Quadrupeds speaks of arnlong-eared bat which fed from the hand; and if an insect were heldrnbetween the lips, it would settle on its master's cheek, and take thernfly from his mouth with great quietness. So accustomed was it to this,rnthat it would seek his lips when he made a buzzing noise. It folded itsrnbeautiful ears under its arm when it went to sleep, and also duringrnhibernation. Its cry was acute and shrill, becoming more clear andrnpiercing when disturbed. It is most frequently seen in towns andrnvillages. This instance of taming to a certain extent might, perhaps, bernmore frequently repeated, if bats were objects of more generalrninterest.