the skeleton of the Bat as one of the best examples of the moulding
of the bones of the extremity to correspond with the condition of the
animal. Contemplating this extraordinary application of the bones of the
extremity, and comparing them with those of the wing of a bird, we might
say that this is an awkward attempt--"a failure." But, before giving
expression to such an opinion, we must understand the objects required
in this construction. It is not a wing intended merely for flight, but
one which, while it raises the animal, is capable of receiving a new
sensation, or sensations, in that exquisite degree, so as almost to
constitute a new sense. On the fine web of the Bat's wing nerves are
distributed, which enable it to avoid objects in its flight during the
night, when both eyes and ears fail. Could the wing of a bird, covered
with feathers, do this? Here, then, we have another example of the
necessity of taking every circumstance into consideration before we
presume to criticise the ways of nature. It is a lesson of humility. In
this animal the bones are light and delicate; and whilst they are all
marvellously extended, the phalanges of the fingers are elongated so
as hardly to be recognised, obviously for the purpose of sustaining a
membranous web, and to form a wing.
In 1839 there was received at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, from
Sumatra, a specimen of the Vampire Bat. This was a young male; the body
was black, and the membranous wing, in appearance, resembled fine black
kid. He was rarely seen at the bottom of his cage, but suspended himself
from the roof or bars of the cage, head downwards, his wings wrapped
round his body; when spread, these wings extended nearly two feet.
Although this specimen was the Vampire Bat to which so many bloodthirsty
feats have been attributed, his appearance was by no means ferocious;
he was active, yet docile, and the only peculiarity to favour belief in
his blood-sucking propensity was his long pointed tongue. The species
has popularly been accused of destroying, not only the large mammiferous
animals, but also men, when asleep, by sucking their blood. "The truth,"
says Cuvier, in his "Regne Animal," "appears to be, that the Vampire
inflicts only small wounds, which may, probably, become inflammatory and
gangrenous from the influence of climate." In this habit, however, may
have originated the celebrated Vampire superstition. Lord Byron, in his
beautiful poem of "The Giaour," thus symbolises the tortures that await
the "false infidel:"--
"First, on earth as Vampire sent,
My corse shall from its tomb be rent;
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;
There, from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corse.
Thy victims, ere they yet expire,
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers are withered on the stem.
But one that for thy crime must fall,
The youngest, most beloved of all,
Shall bless thee with _a father's_ name--
That word shall wrap thy heart in flame!
Yet must thou end thy task, and mark
Her cheek's last tinge, her eye's last spark,
And the last glassy glance must view
Which freezes o'er its lifeless blue;
Then with unhallowed hand shall tear
The tresses of her yellow hair,
Of which in life a lock, when shorn,
Affection's fondest pledge was worn,
But now is borne away by thee,
Memorial of thine agony!
Wet with thine one best blood shall drip
Thy gnashing tooth and haggard lip;
Then stalking to thy sullen grave,
Go, and with Gouls and Afrits rave;
Till there in horror shrink away
From spectre more accursed than they!"
In a note, the noble poet tells us:--"The Vampire superstition is still
general in the Levant." Honest Tournefort tells a long story, which Mr.
Southey, in the notes on "Thalaba," quotes, about these Vardoulacha,
as he calls them. "I recollect a whole family being terrified by the
screams of a child, which they imagined must proceed from such a
visitation. The Greeks never mention the word without horror."
Bishop Heber describes the Vampire Bat of India as a very harmless
creature, entirely different from the formidable idea entertained of it
in England. "It only eats fruit and vegetables; indeed, its teeth are
not indicative of carnivorous habits; and from blood it turns away when
offered to it. During the daytime it is, of course, inert; but at night
it is lively, affectionate, and playful, knows its keeper, but has no
objection to the approach and touch of others."
Mr. Westerton, the traveller, when speaking, in his "Wanderings," of the
Vampire of South America, says:--"There are two species in Demerara,
both of which suck living animals; one is rather larger than the common
Bats, the other measures above two feet from wing to wing, extended. So
gently does this nocturnal surgeon draw the blood, that instead of being
roused, the patient is lulled into a profound sleep." The large Vampire
sucks men, commonly attacking the toes; the smaller seems to confine
itself chiefly to birds.
Captain Stedman, who states that he was bitten by a Bat, thus describes
the operation:--"Knowing by instinct that the person they intend to
attack is in a sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet,
where, while the creature continues fanning with its enormous wings,
which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe,
so very small indeed that the head of a pin would scarcely be received
into the wound, which is, consequently, not painful; yet through this
orifice he continues to suck the blood until he is obliged to disgorge.
He then begins again, and thus continues sucking and disgorging until
he is scarcely able to fly; and the sufferer has been often known to
sleep from time into eternity. Having applied tobacco-ashes as the best
remedy, and washed the gore from myself and my hammock, I observed
several small heaps of congealed blood all round the place where I had
lain upon the ground, on examining which the surgeon judged that I had
lost at least twelve or fourteen ounces during the night."
Lesson, in 1827, says:--"The single American species of Bat is
celebrated by the fables with which they have accompanied its history.
That Bats suck the blood of animals as well as the juices of succulent
fruits zoologists are agreed. The rough tongue of one genus was, I
suppose, to be employed for abrading the skin, to enable the animal
to suck the part abraded; but zoologists are now agreed that the
supposition is groundless. It is more than probable that the celebrated
Vampire superstition and the blood-sucking qualities attributed to the
Bat have some connection with each other."
Bat-fowling is mentioned by Shakspeare. This is the mode of taking
Bats in the night-time, while they are at roost, upon perches, trees,
or hedges. They light torches or straw, and then beat the bushes, upon
which the Bats, flying to the flames, are caught, either with nets or
otherwise.
Bat-fowling, or Bat-folding, is effected by the use of a net, called a
trammel-net, and is practised at night. The net should be made of the
strongest and finest twine, and extended between two poles about ten
feet high, tapering to a point at the top, and meeting at the top of
the net. The larger ends are to be held by the persons who take the
management of the net, and who, by stretching out the arms, keep the net
extended to the utmost, opposite the hedge in which the Bats or birds
are supposed to be. Another of the party carries a lantern upon a pole
at a short distance behind the centre of the net. One or two others
place themselves on the opposite side of the hedge, and by beating it
with sticks disturb the Bats or birds, which, being alarmed, fly towards
the light, but are interrupted in their flight by the net which is
immediately _folded_ upon them, often fifteen or twenty in number. This
sport cannot be followed with much success except when the night is very
dark, or until very late in the autumn, when the trees, having lost
their leaves, the Bats or birds are driven for shelter to the hollies,
yews, hayricks, &c.
We remember reading, in the "Philosophical Magazine," in 1836, a curious
account of the habits of a long-eared Bat, a living specimen of which
was given to the children of Mr. De Carle Sowerby, the naturalist. "We
constructed," says Mr. Sowerby, "a cage for him, by covering a box with
gauze, and making a round hole in the side, fitted with a phial cork.
When he was awake, we fed him with flies, introduced through this hole,
and thus kept him for several weeks. The animal soon became familiar,
and immediately a fly was presented alive at the hole, he would run or
fly from any part of the cage, and seize it in our fingers; but a dead
or quiet fly he would never touch. At other times, dozens of flies and
grasshoppers were left in his cage, and, waking him by their noise, he
dexterously caught them as they hopped or flew about, but uniformly
disregarded them while they were at rest. The cockroach, hard beetles,
and caterpillars he refused.
"As we became still more familiar, our new friend was invited to join
in our evening amusements, to which he contributed his full share
by flitting round the room, at times settling upon our persons, and
permitting us to handle and caress him. He announced his being awake
by a shrill chirp, which was more acute than that of the cricket. Now
was the proper time for feeding him. I before stated that he only took
his food alive. It was observed that not only was motion necessary, but
that generally some noise on the part of the fly was required to induce
him to accept it; and this fact was soon discovered by the children,
who were entertained by his taking flies from their fingers as he flew
by them, before he was bold enough to settle upon their hands to
devour his victims. They quickly improved upon this discovery, and, by
imitating the booming of a bee, induced the Bat, directed by the sound,
to settle upon their faces, wrapping his wings round their lips, and
searching for the expected fly. We observed that, if he took a fly while
on the wing, he frequently settled to masticate it; and, when he had
been flying about a long time, he would rest upon a curtain, pricking
his ears, and turning his head in all directions, when, if a fly were
made to buzz, or the sound imitated, he would proceed directly to the
spot, even on the opposite side of the room, guided, it would appear,
entirely by the ear. Sometimes he took his victim in his mouth, even
though it was not flying; at other times he inclosed it in his wings,
with which he formed a kind of bag-net. This was his general plan when
in his cage, or when the fly was held in our fingers, or between our
lips."
From these observations Mr. Sowerby concludes that many of the movements
of the Bat upon the wing are directed by his exquisite sense of hearing.
May not the sensibility of this organ be naturally greater in these
animals, whose organs of vision are too susceptible to bear daylight,
when those organs, from their nature, would necessarily be of most
service?--such as the cat, who hunts by the ear, and the mole, who,
feeding in the dark recesses of his subterranean abode, is very sensible
of the approach of danger, and expert in avoiding it. In the latter
case, large external ears are not required, because sound is well
conveyed by solids, and along narrow cavities. In the cases of many
Bats, and of owls, the external ears are remarkably developed. Cats
combine a quickness of sight with acute hearing. They hunt by the ear,
but they follow their prey by the eye. Some Bats are said to feed upon
fruits: have they the same delicacy of hearing, feeling, &c., as others?
Mr. Sowerby has further described the singular mode adopted by the
long-eared Bat in capturing his prey. The flying apparatus is extended
from the hind legs to the tail, forming a large bag or net, not unlike
two segments of an umbrella, the legs and tail being the ribs. The Bat,
having caught the fly, instead of eating it at once, generally covers it
with his body, and, by the aid of his arms, &c., forces it into his bag.
He then puts his head down under his body, withdraws the fly from his
bag, and leisurely devours it. Mr. Sowerby once saw an unwary bluebottle
walk beneath the body of the apparently sleeping Bat into the sensitive
bag, in which it was immediately imprisoned. White, of Selborne,
speaking of a tame Bat, alludes to the above described action, which
he compares to that of a beast of prey, but says nothing respecting
the bag. Bell, in his "British Quadrupeds," says that the interfemoral
membrane of Bats "is probably intended to act as a sort of rudder, in
rapidly changing the course of the animal in the pursuit of its insect
food. In a large group of foreign Bats, which feed on fruit or other
vegetable substances, as well as in some of carnivorous habits, but
whose prey is of a less active character, this part is either wholly
wanting or much circumscribed in extent and power." May it not be, asks
Mr. Sowerby, that they do not require an entomological bag-net?
The wing of the Bat is commonly spoken of as of leather; that it is an
insensible piece of stuff--the leather of a glove or of a lady's shoe;
but nothing can be further from the truth. If one were to select an
organ of the most exquisite delicacy and sensibility, it would be the
Bat's wing. It is anything but leather, and is, perhaps, the most acute
organ of touch that can be found.
Bats are supposed to perceive external objects without coming actually
in contact with them, because in their rapid and irregular flight,
amidst various surrounding bodies, they never fly against them; yet, to
some naturalists, it does not appear that the senses of hearing, seeing,
or smelling serve them on these occasions, for they avoid any obstacles
with equal certainty when the eye, ear, and nose are closed: hence has
been ascribed a _sixth sense_ to these animals. The nerves of the wing
are large and numerous, and distributed in a minute network between the
integuments. The impulse of the air against this part may possibly be
so modified by the objects near which the animal passes as to indicate
their situation and nature. The Bat tribe fly by means of the fingers of
the fore feet, the thumb excepted, being, in these animals, longer than
the whole body; and between them is stretched a thin membrane, or web,
for flying. It is probable that, in the action of flight, the air, when
struck by this wing, or very sensitive hand, impresses a sensation of
heat, cold, mobility, and resistance on that organ, which indicates to
the animal the existence or absence of obstacles which would interrupt
its progress. In this manner blind men discover by their hands, and
even by the skin of their faces, the proximity of a wall, door of a
house, or side of a street, even without the assistance of touch, and
merely by the sensation which the difference in the resistance of the
air occasions. Hence they are as little capable of walking on the ground
as apes with their hands, or sloths with their hooked claws, which are
calculated for climbing.
In a certain kind of Bat, the _Nycteris_, there exists a power of
inflation to such a degree that, when inflated, the animal looks,
according to Geoffroy St. Hilaire, like a _little balloon_ fitted
with wings, a head, and feet. It is filled with air through the
cheek-pouches, which are perforated at the bottom, so as to communicate
with the spaces of the skin to be filled. When the Bat wishes to
inflate, it draws in its breath, closes its nostrils, and transmits the
air through the perforations of the cheek-pouches to the spaces; and the
air is prevented from returning by the action of a muscle which closes
those openings, and by valves of considerable size on the neck and back.
There was formerly a vulgar opinion that Bats, when down on a flat
surface, could not get on the wing again, by rising with great ease
from the floor; but White saw a Bat run, with more dispatch than he
was aware of, though in a most ridiculous and grotesque manner. The
adroitness with which this Bat sheared off the wings of flies, which
were always rejected, was very amusing. He did not refuse raw flesh when
offered; so that the notion that Bats go down chimneys, and gnaw men's
bacon, seems no improbable story.
Mr. George Daniell describes a female Bat, who took her food with an
action similar to that of a dog. The animal took considerable pains
in cleaning herself, parting the hair on either side, from head to
tail, and forming a straight line along the middle of the back. The
membrane of the wings was cleaned by forcing the nose through the folds,
and thereby expanding them. This Bat fed freely, and at some times
voraciously, the quantity exceeding half an ounce, although the weight
of the animal itself was not more than ten drams.
The _Kalong_ Bat of the Javanese is extremely abundant in the lower
parts of Java, and uniformly lives in society. The more elevated
districts are not visited by it. "Numerous individuals," says Dr.
Hornfield, "select a large tree, and, suspending themselves with the
claws of their posterior extremities to the naked branches, often in
companies of several hundreds, afford to a stranger a very singular
spectacle. A species of ficus (fig-tree), resembling the _ficus
religiosa_ of India, affords them a very favourite retreat, and the
extended branches of one of these are sometimes covered by them. They
pass the greater portion of the day in sleep, hanging motionless, ranged
in succession, with the head downwards, the membrane contracted about
the body, and often in close contact. They have little resemblance to
living beings; and, by a person not accustomed to their economy, are
readily mistaken for a part of the tree, or for a fruit of uncommon size
suspended from its branches."
In general, these societies are silent during the day; but if they are
disturbed, or a contention arises among them, they emit sharp, piercing
shrieks; and their awkward attempts to extricate themselves, when
oppressed by the light of the sun, exhibit a ludicrous spectacle. Soon
after sunset they gradually quit their hold, and pursue their nocturnal
flight in quest of food. They direct their course by an unerring
instinct to the forests, villages, and plantations, attacking and
devouring every kind of fruit, from the abundant and useful cocoa-nut,
which surrounds the dwellings of the meanest peasantry, to the rare and
most delicate productions which are cultivated by princes and chiefs of
distinction. Various methods are employed to protect the orchards and
gardens. Delicate fruits are secured by a loose net or basket, skilfully
constructed of split bamboo, without which precaution little valuable
fruit would escape the ravages of the _Kalong_. There are few situations
in the lower part of Java in which this night wanderer is not constantly
observed. As soon as the light of the sun has retired, one animal is
seen to follow the other at a small but irregular distance, and this
accession continues uninterrupted till dark:--
"The night came on apace,
And falling dews bewet around the place;
The bat takes airy rounds, on leathern wings,
And the hoarse owl his woful dirges sings."
Gay's "_Pastoral III_."
Bats of the ordinary size are very numerous in Jamaica. They are found
in mills and old houses. They do great mischief in gardens, where they
eat the green peas, opening the pod over each pea, and removing it very
dexterously.
Gilbert White, of Selborne, first noticed a large species of Bat, which
he named _altivolans_, from its manner of feeding high in the air. In
the extent of its wings it measured 14-1/2 inches; and it weighed,
when entirely full, one ounce and one drachm. It is found in numbers
together, so many as 185 having been taken in one night from the eaves
of Queens' College, Cambridge. In the Northern Zoological Gallery of the
British Museum are representatives of the several species of Bats, all
bearing a family resemblance to each other. In England alone there are
eighteen known species. Here is the curious leaf-nosed Bat, from Brazil,
supposed to excel in the sense of smell; also, the Vampire, or large
blood-sucking Bat, from the same country; and the different kinds of
fruit-eating Bats, found in America and Australia, and sometimes called
flying foxes, on account of their great size. The Bats of temperate
climates remain torpid during the winter. Gay has these lines:--
"Where swallows in the winter season keep;
And here the drowsy bat and dormouse sleep."
Young Bats have been taken, when hovering near the ground, by throwing
handfuls of sand, but they rarely live in confinement: they often die
within a week after their capture. A Bat, taken in Elgin, gave birth to
a young one, which was for two days suckled by its parent. Before she
reached the age of three days the young bat died, and the parent only
survived another day to mourn her loss. Sometimes females, when taken,
have young ones clinging to their breast, in the act of sucking; and the
female can fly with ease, though two little ones are attached to her,
which weigh nearly as much as the parent.
To return to an exaggeration of a famous old traveller. In "Purchas his
Pilgrimage," the materials for which he borrowed from above thirteen
hundred authors, when speaking of the island of Madura, in the South of
India, he says:--"In these partes are Battes as big as Hennes, which the
people roast and eat."
THE HEDGEHOG.
Of this animal some strange things are recorded. It is placed by Cuvier
at the head of the insect-devouring Mammifera. It is found in Europe,
Africa, and India. Its body is covered with strong and sharp prickles,
and by the help of a muscle it can contract itself into a ball, and so
withdraw its whole underpart, head, belly, and legs, within this thicket
of prickles:
"Like Hedgehogs, which
Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount
Their pricks at my foot-fall."--Shakspeare's "_Tempest_."
Sir Thomas Browne, in his "Vulgar Errors," has this odd conceit:--"Few
have belief to swallow, or hope enough to experience, the collyrium of
Albertus; that is, to make one see in the dark: yet thus much, according
to his receipts, will the right eye of an Hedgehog, boiled in oil, and
preserved in a brazen vessel, effect."
Hedgehog was an old term of reproach; but we have heard a well-set
argument compared to a hedgehog--all points.
The food of the Hedgehog, which is a nocturnal animal, consists
principally of insects, worms, slugs, and snails. That it will eat
vegetables is shown by White of Selborne, who relates how it eats the
root of the plantain by boring beneath it, leaving the tuft of leaves
untouched.
The Hedgehog is reputed to supply itself with a winter covering of
leaves. So far as we are aware, it has not been observed in the act of
forming the covering of leaves, though it is supposed to roll itself
about till its spines take up a sufficient number, in the same way as
it is popularly believed (without proof) to do with apples. Blumenbach
states that he was assured, "by three credible witnesses," that
Hedgehogs so gather fruit; but Buffon, who kept several Hedgehogs for
observation, declares they never practise any such habit.
The voracity of the Hedgehog is very great. A female, with a young one,
was placed in a kitchen, having the run of the beetles at night, besides
having always bread and milk within their reach. One day, however, the
servants heard a mysterious crunching sound in the kitchen, and found,
on examination, that nothing was left of the young Hedgehog but the skin
and prickles--the mother had devoured her little pig! A Hedgehog has
also been known to eat a couple of rabbits which had been confined with
it, and killing others; it has likewise been known to kill hares.
A Hedgehog was placed in one hamper, a wood-pigeon in another, and two
starlings in a third; the lid of each hamper was tied down with string,
and the hampers were placed in a garden-house, which was fastened in the
evening. Next morning the strings to the hampers were found severed, the
starlings and wood-pigeon dead and eaten, feathers alone remaining in
their hampers, and the Hedgehog alive in the wood-pigeon's hamper. As no
other animal could have got into the garden-house it was concluded that
the Hedgehog had killed and eaten the birds.
In the "Zoological Journal," vol. ii., is an account by Mr. Broderip of
an experiment made by Professor Buckland proving that in captivity at
least the Hedgehog will devour snakes; but there is no good reason for
supposing that it will not do the same in a state of nature, for frogs,
toads, and other reptiles, and mice, have been recorded as its prey.
From its fondness for insects it is often placed in the London kitchens
to keep down the swarm of cockroaches with which they are infested; and
there are generally Hedgehogs on sale at Covent Garden Market for this
purpose.