A race of beings, to which the epithet mysterious may be with some truth
applied, affords more interest from its peculiar habits, than from any
proof which can be given of its mental powers; and its place in this
work is due to the marvellous histories which have been related
concerning it, and which have made it an object of superstitious alarm.
Bats, or Cheiroptera, are particularly distinguished from all other
creatures which suckle their young, by possessing the power of flight. A
Lemur Galeopithecus, which exists in the Eastern part of the globe,
takes long sweeps from tree to tree, and owes this faculty to the
extension of its skin between its fore and hind limbs, including the
tail; but it cannot be really said to fly. The Bats, then, alone enjoy
this privilege; and the prolongation of what, in common parlance, we
should call the arms and fingers, constitutes the framework which
supports the skin, or membrane forming the wings. The thumbs, however,
are left free, and serve as hooks for various purposes. The legs, and
tail (when they have any), generally help to extend the membrane of the
wing; and the breast-bone is so formed as to support the powerful
muscles which aid their locomotive peculiarities. They climb and crawl
with great dexterity, and some will run when on the ground; but it is
difficult for most of them to move on a smooth, horizontal surface, and
they drag themselves along by their thumbs. A portion of the Cheiroptera
feeds on insects, and another on fruits; one genus subsists chiefly on
blood. The first help to clear the atmosphere of those insects which fly
at twilight; the second are very destructive to our gardens and
orchards; the last are especially the object of that superstitious fear
to which I have already alluded. They are all nocturnal or crepuscular,
and during the day remain suspended by the sharp claws of their feet to
the under-branches of trees, the roofs of caves, subterranean quarries,
or old ruins, hanging with their heads downwards; multitudes live in the
tombs of Egypt.
The appearance of Bats is always more or less grotesque; but this term
more aptly applies to those which live on animal food, in consequence of
the additions made to the nose and ears, probably for the sake of
increasing their always acute senses of smell and hearing. The ears are
frequently of an enormous size, and are joined together at the back of
the head; besides which they have leaf, or lance-shaped appendages in
front. A membrane of various forms is also often attached to the nose,
in one species the shape of a horse-shoe. The bodies are always covered
with hair, but the wings consist of a leathery membrane. Another
singularity in one genus is the extremity of the spine being converted
into two jointed, horny pieces, covered with skin, so as to form a box
of two valves, each having an independent motion. The large bats of the
East Indies measure five feet from the tip of one wing to that of the
other, and they emit a musky odour. The skin of the Nycteris Geoffroyi
is very loose upon the body; and the animal draws air through openings
in the cheek pouches, head, and back, and swells itself into a little
balloon; the openings being closed at pleasure by means of valves. The
bite of all is extremely sharp; and we seldom hear of an instance of one
being tamed. They try to shelter themselves from chilly winds, and
frequent sheltered spots, abounding in masonry, rocks, trees, and small
streams.
About the Vampire, or the blood-sucker, there are different opinions:
that of the East is said to be quite harmless; but it is asserted that
the South American species love to attach themselves to all cattle,
especially to horses with long manes, because they can cling to the hair
while they suck the veins, and keep their victim quiet by flapping their
wings over its head; they also fasten themselves upon the tail for the
first reason, and a great loss of blood frequently ensues. Fowls are
frequently killed by them as they roost upon their perches, for so
noiseless and gentle are they in their flight and operations, that
animals are not awakened out of their sleep by their attacks. The teeth
are so disposed that they make a deep and triple puncture, and one was
taken by Mr. Darwin in the act of sucking blood from the neck of a
horse. This able naturalist and accurate observer is of opinion, that
horses do not suffer from the quantity of blood taken from them by the
Vampire, but from the inflammation of the wound which they make, and
which is increased if the saddle presses on it. Horses, however, turned
out to grass at night, are frequently found the next morning with their
necks and haunches covered with blood; and it is known that the bat
fills and disgorges itself several times. Dr. Carpenter is of the same
opinion as Mr. Darwin, and also disbelieves that these creatures soothe
their victims by fanning them with their wings.
Captain Stedman, who travelled in Guiana, from 1772 to 1777, published
an account of his adventures, and for several years afterwards, it was
the fashion to doubt the truth of his statements. In fact, it was a
general feeling, up to a much later period than the above, that
travellers were not to be believed. As our knowledge, however, has
increased, and the works of God have been made more manifest, the
reputation of many a calumniated traveller has been restored, and, among
others, that of Captain Stedman. I shall, therefore, unhesitatingly
quote his account of the bite of the vampire, "On waking, about four
o'clock this morning, in my hammock, I was extremely alarmed at finding
myself weltering in congealed blood, and without feeling any pain
whatever. Having started up and run to the surgeon, with a firebrand in
one hand, and all over besmeared with gore, the mystery was found to be,
that I had been bitten by the vampire or specter of Guiana, which is
also called the flying dog of New Spain. This is no other than a bat of
monstrous size, that sucks the blood from men and cattle, sometimes even
till they die; 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 his 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 could scarcely be received
into the wound, which is consequently not painful; yet, through this
orifice, he contrives to suck the blood, until he is obliged to
disgorge. He then begins again, and thus continues sucking and
disgorging till he is scarcely able to fly, and the sufferer has often
been known to sleep from time into eternity. Cattle they generally bite
in the ear, but always in those places where the blood flows
spontaneously. 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 around the place where I had lain, upon
the ground; upon examining which, the surgeon judged that I had lost at
least twelve or fourteen ounces during the night. Having measured this
creature (one of the bats), I found it to be, between the tips of the
wings, thirty-two inches and a half; the colour was a dark brown, nearly
black, but lighter underneath."
Mr. Waterton, whom all the world recognizes as a gentleman, and
consequently a man of truth, laboured at one time under the same stigma
of exaggeration as Captain Stedman, and many other illustrious
travellers; and he confirms the blood-sucking in the following
terms:--"Some years ago, I went to the river Paumarau, 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, and
now and then letting fall an imprecation or two, 'What is the matter,
Sir,' said I softly, 'is anything amiss?' 'What is 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 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, and I conjectured he might have lost from ten to twelve ounces of
blood."
Mr. Waterton further tells us, that a boy of ten or eleven years of age
was bitten by a vampire, and a poor ass, belonging to the young
gentleman's father, was dying by inches from the bites of the larger
kinds, while most of his fowls were killed by the smaller bats.
The torpidity in which bats remain during the winter, in climates
similar to that of England, is well known; and, like other animals which
undergo the same suspension of powers, they have their histories of long
imprisonment in places which seem inimical to life. There are two
accounts of their being found in trees, which are extremely curious, and
the more so, because the one corroborates the other. In the beginning of
November, 1821, a woodman, engaged in splitting timber for rail-posts,
in the woods close by the lake at Haining, a seat of Mr. Pringle's, in
Selkirkshire, discovered, in the centre of a large wild-cherry tree, a
living bat, of a bright scarlet colour, which, as soon as it was
relieved from its entombment, took to its wings and escaped. In the tree
there was a recess sufficiently large to contain the animal; but all
around, the wood was perfectly sound, solid, and free from any fissure
through which the atmospheric air could reach the animal.
A man engaged in splitting timber, near Kelsall, in the beginning of
December, 1826, discovered, in the centre of a large pear-tree, a living
bat, of a bright scarlet colour, which he foolishly suffered to escape,
from fear, being fully persuaded (with the characteristic superstition
of the inhabitants of that part of Cheshire), that it was "a being not
of this world." The tree presented a small cavity in the centre, where
the bat was enclosed, but was perfectly sound and solid on each side.
The scarlet colour of each of these prisoners seems at present to be
inexplicable, and makes these statements still more marvellous.
Professor Bell, in his admirable work on British Quadrupeds speaks of a
long-eared bat which fed from the hand; and if an insect were held
between the lips, it would settle on its master's cheek, and take the
fly from his mouth with great quietness. So accustomed was it to this,
that it would seek his lips when he made a buzzing noise. It folded its
beautiful ears under its arm when it went to sleep, and also during
hibernation. Its cry was acute and shrill, becoming more clear and
piercing when disturbed. It is most frequently seen in towns and
villages. This instance of taming to a certain extent might, perhaps, be
more frequently repeated, if bats were objects of more general
interest.