The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-09-25

lis two hands. il soon contrived TO suck
out the whole contents. Whenever any
thing was given TO il that was too hard TO
break with its teeth, it always looked about
for stone, which it would hold in both ITS
hands, and rising erect on its legs, would
let it fall, leaping backwards at the same
time, to avoid any injury to its toes.
We are occasionally assailed by the an
onymous abuse Of parlor naturallsts Tor re-
peatlng what certain travellers have written
respecting the dimensions and habits OF the
so called bird-catching spiders OF South
| America what do such authorities say to
the recent testimony Of DR.. Won TschudI
"At Quibe,' he says, 81 saw bird-catchlnS
spider (mygale) of extraordinary large size;
The back part Of the body alone measured
two inches. Being at some distance, | sup
posed it to be one of the rodent animals,
and fired at it. To my notification
discovered my mistake when too late, Tor
the specimen was completely destroyed by
the shot, and was useless ioi my collection.
The Indians assured me that on the margin
of the stream which flowed near the p an
tation, many larger individuals were to be
found but | never saw another of such re-
markable size as the one inadvertently de-
stroyed.
The vampire, or blood-suckinS bats,
which were also 50 long regarded as iabu-
lous, are thus spoken of by the same re-
cent authority -'Not less troublesome
are the leaf nosed bats, (phyllostomaD which
attack both man and beast. This bat rubs
up the skin of his victim, from which he
sucks the blood. The domestic animals
suffer greatly from the nocturnal attacks
of these creatures, and many are destroyed
by the exhaustion consequent on the repeat
ed blood sucking. The blood drawn by
the bat itself does not exceed few ounces
but if, when satisfied, it drops down TO the
ground, or flies away, the wound continues
to bleed for a long time, and in the NOM
ing the animal is often found in very
weak condition, and covered with blood
One OF my mules, on which a leaf-nosed
bat made a nightly attack. was only saved
by having his back rubbed with an ONT
ment made of spirits of camphor, soap, and
petroleum. The blOod-suckers have such
an aversion TO the smell of this ointment,
that on its application they ceased to APP
proach the mule. These bats are very mis-
chievous in the plantations of the forests
where beasts of burden and horned cattle
are exposed TO their attacks. Whether they
venture TO assal man, has been a much
disputed question. Several TRAVELLERS de
clare they do not. may, however, men
ton a case which occurred within my own
knowledge A bat fastened on the nose Of
IN Indian lying intoxicated in plantation
and sucked so much blood, that it was una
bic to fly away The slight wound was
followed by such severe inflammation and
swelling that the features OF the Cholo were
not recognizable" This account is con
imed by Mr. Gardner, the Brazilian travel
Ter, who believes that the puncture which
the vampire makes in the skin Of the ami
mails is effected by the sharp hooked mai
of its thumb, and that from the wound thus
made ii abstracts the blood by the suctorial
powers OF its lips and tongue