Another genus has the nasal leaf a little smaller than some others, yet still it resembles them in form. The principal characteristic of this genus is a long tongue, which is very extensible, and provided with a great number of hairs; it is ejected and drawn in with great rapidity.

The batt of which we give a head after nature, is found in the Brazils. Its colour is brown; its wings are sufficiently ample, and the interfemoral membrane is considerably longer than the tail. The visage is somewhat lengthened. The animal has only five pairs of upper molars. It is the type of a genus formed by Mr. Gray, in which that eminent naturalist has placed two other species.

The Stenoderma rufum is a specimen of a genus formed by M. E. Geoffroy. The engravings show the character of its face and teeth.

Another was named by Linnaeus, Vespertilio perspicillatum. It was called by Buffon the Great Horse-shoe Bat of Guyana; but it is now known as Stenoderma perspicillatum. We give a head of this singular-looking animal, which is found not only on the American continent, as in Guyana and Brazil, but also in the islands of Jamaica, Cuba, and Hayti. M. A. Ricord had an opportunity of studying it, and he thus wrote to M. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire :

Every evening, about two hours before sunset, these animals quit the virgin forests that they inhabit during the day; they are then seen to come flying in great numbers, and they throw themselves on the branches of the sapotas, of which they devour the fruits. They are often seen on the

trees, nibbling indiscriminately the fruits, in order to find those which are ripe, for it is only by the touch they assure themselves of the ripeness of the fruit. They therefore commit great ravages. I have observed these bats during an entire night, and I have seen them return an hour before day, their flight being directed towards the forests. They occupy places uninhabitable by man."

A head will be observed of a smaller animal of this genus, Stenoderma Chiliensis. Its head is

gray; the back and the feet are brown; beneath the body it is of a lighter colour.

The genus Desmodus, which has been distinguished from others by Prince Maximilianvon Neuwied, is considered to be one of the most curious of this diversified family, from the very singular arrange

Glossoplaga.

† G. amplexicaudata.

Phyllophora.

ment of its teeth, as well as from the peculiarities observable in the skeleton. They suck blood like the other animals of the family. The only species at present known of this genus* is found in various parts of South America.

THE VAMPIRE BAT.t

THIS animal generally measures about twenty-six inches from wing to wing expanded, though one was killed by a traveller which measured thirty-two inches. The nose-leaf is entire, and greater in height than in width although it becomes widened at its base.

Buffon, who was acquainted with only a small number of bats, has given of one species, the Vampire, a portrait, which, although exaggerated, still indicates some of the peculiarities that distinguish it from all other wing-handed animals. "The vampire has," he says, "a long muzzle; the hideous aspect of the most ill-favoured bats. Its head is surmounted with huge ears, and there is a membrane above the nostrils in the form of a horn, or a pointed crust, which greatly augments the deformity of the face." We exhibit the animal, not merely as Buffon described it, but in its true

character. Of the habits of this creature, we have descriptions by various travellers, which we shall now render available.

Goldsmith, tracing the course of the exiles from Auburn, in his "Deserted Village," says:—

"Through torrid tracks with fainting steps they go,

Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe;
Far different there from all that charmed before
The various terrors of that horrid shore;
Those matted woods, where birds forget to sing,
But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling."

Desmodus rufus.

t Vampyrus spectrum.

And often may a cluster of them be seen in the forest, hanging head downwards from the branch of a tree. Such is the mode of life of the vampire bat, as well as of others, while among his favourite localities are hollow trees and deserted houses.

Mr. Waterton describes his going up the river Demerara, to the former habitation of a friend. The house had been abandoned for some years. All was changed; the dwelling was in ruins, and gradually sinking under the influence of the sun and rain; the roof had nearly fallen in; and the room, where once governors and generals had caroused, was now dismantled and tenanted by the vampire. With truth it might be said,

""Tis now the vampire's bleak abode,
'Tis now the apartment of the toad,
'Tis here the painful chegoe feeds,
"Tis here the dire labarri breeds,
Concealed in ruins, moss, and weeds."

On the outside of the house Nature had nearly assumed her ancient right; a few straggling fruit trees were still discernible amid the varied hues of the approaching forest; they seemed like strangers, lost, bewildered, and unpitied, in a foreign land, destined to linger a little longer, and then sink down for

ever.

Mr. Waterton thus describes his subsequent circumstances :-"I hired some negroes from a woodcutter in another creek to repair the roof; and then the house, or, at least, what remained

of it, became head-quarters for natural history. The frogs, and here and there a snake, received that attention which the weak in this world generally experience from the strong, and which the law commonly denominates an ejectment. But here, neither the frogs nor serpents were ill-treated; they sallied forth without buffet or rebuke, to choose their place of residence. The world was all before them; the owls went away of their own accord, preferring to retire to a hollow tree rather than to associate with their new landlord. The bats and vampires stayed with me, and went in and out as usual."

The vampire has been often regarded as only a blood-sucker; the testimony of Mr. Waterton, however, is entitled to consideration. Referring to the ruined house which he had somewhat improved, he says:-"As there was a free entrance and exit to the vampire, in the loft where I slept, I had many a fine opportunity of paying attention to this nocturnal surgeon. He does not always live on blood. When the moon shone bright, and the fruit of the banana-tree was ripe, I could see him approach and eat it. He would also bring into the loft, from the forest, a green round fruit, something like the wild Guava, and about the size of a nutmeg. There was something also in the blossom of the Sawarri nuttree which was grateful to him; for, on coming up Waratilla Creek on a moonlight night, I saw several vampires fluttering round the top of the Sawarri tree, and every now and then the blossoms, which they had broken off, fell into the water. They certainly did not drop off naturally, for on examining

several of them they appeared quite fresh and blooming. So I concluded the vampires pulled them from the tree, either to get at the incipient fruit, or to catch the insects which often take up their abode in flowers."

Still, it cannot be disputed that at the close of the day the vampires leave the hollows, trees, or ruins, whither they had fled at the morning's dawn, and scour along the river's banks in quest of prey. Every unprotected animal is exposed to the attacks of this creature; and so gently does it act, that instead of being roused to a sense of its danger, the assailed is lulled into a profounder sleep. There are two species of vampire in Demerara, and both suck living animals: one is rather larger than the common bat; the other measures above two feet from the extremity of wing to wing, when extended for flight. The smaller seems to confine itself chiefly to birds. A gentleman, living high up on the river Demerara, was entirely unsuccessful with his fowls because of this creature. Some, that had been sucked the night before, were scarcely able to walk.

Domestic animals often suffer greatly from the nocturnal attacks of the larger vampires, and many are destroyed by the exhaustion consequent on the repeated blood sucking. The blood drawn by a bat does not exceed a few ounces; but as, when satisfied, it drops down to the ground, or flies away, the wound continues to bleed for a long time, and in the morning the animal is often found in a very weak condition, covered with blood. A mule, on which a vampire made a nightly attack, was only saved by having his back rubbed with an ointment made of spirits of camphor, soap, and petroleum. The bats have such an aversion to the smell of this ointment, that after its application they ceased to attack the mule. These creatures are also very mischievous in the plantations of the forests, when beasts of burden and horned cattle are exposed to their attacks.

Mr. Swainson's testimony respecting them is as follows:-"They are constantly in the habit of attacking animals during the night, and sucking their blood. Our own horses and mules on many occasions, after having arrived at the end of a day's journey, and being turned out to graze, would be brought in by the guides in the morning with their shoulders and haunches covered with blood."

Mr. Darwin, relating his interesting adventures when travelling on horseback in the neighbourhood of Rio Janeiro, says :-"The vampire bat is often the cause of much trouble by biting the horses on their withers. The injury is not so much owing to the loss of blood as to the inflammation which the pressure of the saddle afterwards produces. The whole circumstance has lately been doubted in England; I was, therefore, fortunate in being present when one was actually caught on a horse's back. We were bivouacking, late one evening, near Coquimbo, in Chili, when my servant, noticing that one of the horses was very restive, went to see what was the matter, and, fancying he could distinguish something, suddenly put his hand on the beast's withers, and secured the vampire. In the morning the spot where the bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished by its being slightly swollen and bloody. The third day afterwards we rode the horse without any ill effects."

"It is interesting," says Mr. Waterton, "to find that the structure of the animal is in perfect accordance with the habits above detailed by Mr. Darwin. Among other points, the total absence of true molars, and the consequent want of the power of masticating food, is the most remarkable; on the other hand, we find the canines and incisors perfectly fitted for inflicting a wound such as described, while the small size of the interfemoral membrane, giving freedom to the motions of the legs, together with the unusually large size of the thumb and claw, would enable the bat, as I should imagine, to fix itself with great security on the body of the horse."

Humboldt says:-"We passed the Guarico, and encamped in the savannahs south of Guayaval. Enormous bats, no doubt of the tribe of Phyllostomas, hovered as usual over our hammocks during a great part of the night. Every moment they seemed to be about to fasten on our faces."

A traveller relates that he was speaking to a merchant in Trinidad about a horse belonging to a friend being reduced to great weakness by loss of blood from a wound made by a vampire bat, when the merchant described an attack made by one of these creatures on himself.

He had gone into a house which he had on an estate in the interior of the island, and being detained until late in the day, he had a bed prepared in a large room which he usually occupied on such occasions. As the night was hot, he allowed the mosquito curtains to remain suspended instead of dropping them round the bed; and having extinguished his light, he was lying on his back, admiring the moon's rays as they streamed through one of the open windows, when suddenly a large vampire bat entered the apartment.

The first thought of the observer was to try the experiment of baring his chest, and remaining perfectly quicscent, to see whether the bat would attack him. At first it sailed along on noiseless wing from one end of the room to the other, passing outside the foot of the bed. After several turns it changed its course, and passed between the canopy of the bed and his person; then it gradually shortened its sweep, sailing backwards and forwards within the space of a few yards, until at last it ceased to sweep past him altogether, but hovered immediately over him, moving its wings rapidly, but noiselessly, while the agitation of the air was exceedingly soothing and grateful.

The narrator declared that he could not exactly distinguish the moment when the bat pitched on his naked breast, so softly did it alight, and so incessant was the fanning of its wings even after it had alighted. He was soon, however, sensible of a slight pain, resembling the bite of a leech, and which he no sooner felt than he grasped the bat with both hands and strangled it. "It is," says Mr. Darwin, "no uncommon thing for real vampires to enter the habitations of the natives, and fasten on the legs of some incautious sleeper who has not snugly secured his feet beneath the coverlid."

Mr. Waterton describes the proceedings of a vampire more particularly:-"I went to the river Paumaron with a Scotch gentleman. We hung our hammocks in the thatched loft of a planter's house. Next morning I heard this gentleman muttering in his hammock. What is the matter, sir,' said I, softly; 'is anything amiss?' 'What's the matter?' answered he, surlily; 'why, the vampires have been sucking me to death.' As soon as there was light enough, I went to his hammock, and saw it much stained with blood. There,' said he, thrusting his foot out of the hammock, 'see how these infernal imps have been drawing my life's blood.'

"On examining his foot, I found the vampire had tapped his great toe. There was a wound somewhat less than that made by a leech; the blood was still oozing from it; I conjectured he might have lost from ten to twelve ounces of blood. Whilst examining it, I think I put him into a worse hamour by remarking, that an European surgeon would not have been so generous as to have blooded him without making a charge. He looked up in my face, but did not say a word. I saw he was of opinion that I had better have spared this piece of ill-timed levity.

"I had often wished to have been once sucked by the vampire, in order that I might have it in my power to say it had really happened to me. There can be no pain in the operation, for the patient is always asleep when the vampire is sucking him, and as for the loss of a few ounces of blood, that would be a trifle in the long-run. Many a night have I slept with my foot out of the hammock, to tempt this winged surgeon, expecting he would be there; but it was all in vain ; the vampire never sucked me, and I could never account for his not doing so, for we were inhabitants of the same loft for months together."

D'Azara, who is a faithful describer, observes "that the species with a leaf on the nose differs from the other bats of Paraguay, in being able to run when on the ground nearly as fast as a rat, and in their fondness for sucking the blood of animals. Nor is man himself secure from their attacks; on this point I am able to give a very faithful testimony, since I have had the ends of my toes bitten by them four times while I was sleeping in the cottages in the open country.

"The wounds which they inflicted, without my feeling them at the time, were circular, or rather elliptical; their diameter is trifling, and their depth so superficial, as scarcely to penetrate the cutis. The blood drawn is merely from the capillary vessels of the skin, and is extracted then, beyond doubt, by the action of sucking or licking. Nobody fears these animals, or gives himself any trouble about them." Mr. Darwin says:-"Stories are told of incautious sufferers having bled so profusely as to have died; but we never could ascertain the fact, nor did we suffer from the visits of these midnight phlebotomists."