Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-08-31
Gossip AbOlt Bats.


Gossip About Bats.
pharse "blind as a bat" is not
by facts 1t is true the bats eyes
Of the largest, but they answer
ssary purposes. Besides, the ami
find his way about without them,
be. Spallanzani proved, by
cruel experiments with blinded
et they would fly round a room and
be door without coming in contact
ytking. and pass between threads
touching them, though the width
was barely Sufficient to admit
expanded wings. This facility
attributes to the whole surface Of
be- membranes being endowed with
Waordinary sepsibi ity as to form a
leus organ of touch. Mr. Cornish
ONE curious experiments upon tor
b Upon applying a thermometer
1t stood at thirty six degrees, while
hid the heart beat just once second.
Its being awakened, SO that it could
about, the pulsations of the heart
bed TO huRared per minyte, while
lat of the body rose only two de-
In their torpid state bats lose from
. seven grains in weight in fort,
! They do not travel well in this
hon; for vnen a dozen were sent
Devonshire,to London not one sur
the journey, although they exhibit
little sign Of change that the great
hist, John Hunter, kept them con-
bic time before he could satisfy him
lat they were really dead. That
IRE capable of retaining life for a
eriod in torpid state is certain. In
family VaulG was open at Norwich,
nd, after being closed for thirty-two
and in it was found torpid living
at; and a living bat of G bright scar
or is said to have beer discovered
Urge cherry tree, inclosed in perfectly
and solid wood, that he'd apparent
wn round it. Still the sleep of the
mot so oeep as that of some other
ating creatures; sight rise in
nature, dixie that afforded by mild
Is day, will suffice to wake him up
mpt him forth on forging intent,
hlly to bis discontinue, as the win
lnd inEects do not follew his exam
that q severe winter is most con-
to the bats health and longevity.
sidering the repulsive appearance
range habits of the tribe, the bat has
ZEN the subject of so many popular
} and superstitions as might have
expected. Pliny informs us those
tors, the magician s, taught that by
bg live bat three round house,
len mailing it outside with its head
yard, householder might provide
If with an effective countercharm
\ evil spells. When it was wanted
tect sheep from harm it had to be
three times round the fold and
by the foot to the Intel Of the door.
blood, combined in some mysterious
nth the thistle, was held specific
pents' bites-a strange thing, since
DnsOn assures US the serpent makes
of bat when desious of transform.
elf into dragon. They have been
Rs amulets to insure prosperity; but
peare had very different idea of
properties, thinking "wool of bat
esary ingredient in the baleful mess
in Hecate's caldron, and making
liban curse Prospero with the wish
charms of his dam, "toads, beetles,
might light on him. 1t would seem,
lat there was notion that the un
appearance of bat was ominous of
y the concOctors of a book of prodi-
the edification of pioIs NoncOm-
lts thinking the following story
printing" Upon the I'd of February,
DR.. Belk, one of the prebends of
fbury, did, in the morning, preach
cathedral there; and when he was
midst of his sermon a finder mouse,
did come forth, and flew several
from one end of the place to the
and when he was earnest in speaking
u struck at him, which the people
Peat notice of, because of the unusual
fance Of the creature at that time of
y and in the cold winter season; as,
ecause of the great affront offered by
the doctor while he was officiating"
temples and tombs Of Egypt
with bats, which resent the intru-
Pf explorers by extinguishing their
clinging TO their clothes and annoy
em generally. Hot countries are the
e homes of the bat; and in them 1t
size far beyond anything known
Prthern ATTITUDES. When Captain
was vending his way to Dahomey
4 the trees blackened with clinging
and the sky speckled with ssarms
pm. The Bornean sky is said to be
FED for two hours at time by dense
of bats. In Ceylon, too, the bat is
IN Of multitude: the tunnels OF its
[ays, the galleries of its Notifications,
pts of its bungalows, and the ruins
temples abound with them; and
cavern and subterraneous passage
a convenient domicile for these
ess loving swarms. From these
Psue as the sun goes down, and, bold
lmpunity, enter the very dining
and carry off the insects skirmish.
pund the table lamps. The island
pes no less than sixteen species, two
ch are its own peculiar natives -one
creature, not much larger than a
e-bee, of a glossy black hue; the
measuring from three to four feet |