1. AMONG the more conspicuous of the puzzles of natural history are the strange and weird animals which are popularly known by the terse title of bats, and scientifically

from two Greek words signifying a hand and a wing. 2. In the older times some authors placed the bats among the birds, while others assigned them a position among the quadrupeds, because they can walk on the earth. Some, again, who admitted the mammalian nature of these creatures, scattered them at intervals through the scale of animated beings, heedless of any distinction excepting the single characteristic on which each took his stand, and by which he judged every animal. These are but a few of the diverse opinions which ran riot among the naturalists of

former times, among which the most ingeniously quaint is that which places the bat and the ostrich in the same order, because the bat can fly and the ostrich cannot.

3. By degrees the true mammalian character of the bats. became more clearly understood, and they were removed. from the birds to take their rank among higher forms. Even then, however, they were placed at the very end of the mammals, being considered as a connecting link which prevented a too abrupt change from the hairy to the feathered beings; and it was left to more recent investigators to discover the real position of the bat tribe.

4. Of all this tribe, the bat which has earned for itself the most conspicuous celebrity is the vampire; and this celebrity it has gained by the surest means of obtaining mundane fame, the shedding of blood. The vampire bat is a native of Southern America, and is found over a large extent of country. It is not a very large animal, the length of its body and tail being only six inches, or perhaps seven in large specimens, and the spread of the wings two feet, or somewhat more. The color of the vampire's fur is a mouse tint, with a shade of brown.

5. Many tales have been told of the vampire bat, and its fearful attacks upon sleeping men, - tales which, although founded on fact, were sadly exaggerated. It was reported to come silently by night, and to search for the exposed toes of a sound sleeper, -its instinct telling when the intended victim was thoroughly buried in sleep. Poising itself above the feet of its prey, and fanning them with its extended wings, it produced a cool atmosphere, which, in those hot climates, aided in soothing the slumberer into a still deeper repose. The bat then applied its needlepointed teeth to the upturned foot, and inserted them into

the tip of the toe with such dexterity that no pain was caused by the tiny wound. The lips were then brought into action, and the blood was sucked until the bat was satiated. It then disgorged the food which it had just taken, and began afresh, continuing its alternate feeding and disgorging until the victim perished from sheer loss of blood.

6. For a time this statement gained credence, but after a while was less and less believed, until at last naturalists repudiated the whole story as a "traveler's tale." However, as usual, the truth seems to have lain between the two extremes; for it is satisfactorily ascertained by more recent travelers that the vampires really do bite both men and cattle during the night. But the wound is never known to be fatal, and in most instances causes but little inconvenience to the sufferer.

7. When they direct their attacks against mankind, the vampires almost invariably select the foot as their point of attack; and their blood-loving propensities are the dread of both natives and Europeans. With singular audacity, the vampire even creeps into human habitations, and seeks out the exposed feet of any sleeping inhabitant who has incautiously neglected to draw a coverlet over his limbs.

8. When they attack quadrupeds, they generally fix themselves on the shoulders and flanks of the animal, and inflict wounds sufficiently severe to cause damage, unless properly attended to. It is quite a common occurrence that when the cattle are brought from the pastures where they have passed the night, their shoulders and flanks are covered with blood from the bites of these blood-loving bats. It might be said that the bleeding wounds were due to some other cause; but the matter was set at rest by the

fortunate capture of a vampire "red-handed," in the very act of wounding a horse.

9. Darwin, who narrates the circumstance, states that he was traveling in the neighborhood of Coquimbo, in Chili, and had halted for the night. One of the horses became very restless, and the servant who went to ascertain what was the matter with the animal fancied that he could see something strange on its withers. He put his hand quickly on the spot, and secured a vampire bat. Next morning there was some inflammation and soreness on the spot where the bat had been captured; but the ill effects soon disappeared, and three days afterwards the horse was as well as ever. It does not seem to be the severity of the wound which does the harm, but the irritation which is caused by pressure, whether of a saddle in the case of a horse, or of clothing in the case of a human being.

10. The vampire seems to be very capricious in its tastes, for while one person may sleep in the open air with impunity, another will be wounded almost nightly. Mr. Waterton, urged by enthusiastic desire for personal investigation, slept for the space of eleven months in an open loft, where the vampires came in and out every night. They were seen hovering over the hammock, and passing through the apertures that served for windows, but never made a single attack on him; yet an Indian, who slept within a few yards, suffered frequently by the loss of blood from his toes. This distinction was not on account of color, for a young lad about twelve years of age, the son of an English gentleman, was bitten on the forehead with such severity that the wound bled freely on the following morning. The fowls of the same house suffered so terribly that they died fast; and an unfortunate donkey was being killed by inches.