The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-10-29
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Nerth Generally known.
NeouI The October number of the Popular
lrneic hearrlneeiicience Monthly contains an article bv
STI IIa rOf. Burt G. Wilder entitled "bats and
80 10 leir Young" Beginning his essay Inv
satt + rCemarking that all parts of the world ex-
ihevenpting the colder regions are inhabited
iii. |. bats; that there are many kinds of
dol iI.atS; that they often occur in verv LARGE
Saus>. umbcrs. and that there are very few
80 5crsOnS, young or old, who have not seen
tbens bat, the writer adds: yet. aside from
eng iltrsrofesscd naturalists It is equally prob
con Hble that there are still fewer who, from
tho gCIrect observation, could give anv accu-
HTi5 ,Ite description of their appearance. their
agCionablts, their structure of their relations
linIlotIth the birds of the air or the beasts
NtaIaf the earth,' to both of which bats bear
l,rl lOrc or less resemblance" Prof Wilder
10y. F.hinks that this is not strange, " for bats
End ass the day in caves and deserted build
s: s. Ngs, and fly about in pursuit of prev
Iorl1 My in the twilight. Much less rapid
"ftsjhan that Of birds, their flight is so ire
he Ocular as to render it difficult to follow
W.. NIheir course, and in the dusk they are
de, e,errtten mistaken for somewhat eccentric
tai W members of the swallow family" The
err tery aspect of bats, we are told, is repuI-
whW.Hve; they often emit an unpleasant odor;
f&they breed vermin, which they often
e1suRave behind them in houses; thew bite
TO ",Iercely when they are captured, having
taiy bharp, "almoSt needle-like" eve-teeth.
ritN Aiats have rarely been domesticated. there
* E vnPelng on record only two instances fthe
- is aiming of bats. Prof Wilder caught
de 81 Ane when he was boy, and he gives the
tn. COllowing account of his somewhat dis
so, ltgreeable pet:
any. " One of our common bats (probablv
toi: Jtither the little brown bat PesDcrtiHo
ib,dc' '"b"iat'ls, or the little red bat flew
TO nto the house one evening and was
dRtaught under 4 hat. 1t qucaked AMI
Fpgnnapped ITS little jaws 50 yiciously that
i nall efforts toward closer acquaintanca
Il ii@,g5ayere postponed until morning.
u hai When uncovered the next dav it
SliiItteemcd rs fierce as before, but less active
4'r.en its movements, probably overpowered
W.. by the glare of daylight. When touched
tS}S t}S Is jaws opened wide. the sharp teeth
T,anvere exposed, and from its little throat
~ diq%-ame the sharp steely clicks 50 character
W Ia,stic of our bats. Nor did this fierce
hdslemeanOr soften in the least during the
lee%lay, and when night approached / was
. nj about to let it go, but the sight of big
ucSly on the window suggested an attempt
NM feed the captive. Held by the wings
y Wletwccn the points Of a pair of forceps.
rfiI he fly had no sooner touched the bats
, adlosc than 1T was seized, crunched and
! l#gswallowcd. The Tapiditv of its disap-
nTfN g.
Z IeyWhich the eaters jaws were opened to
, 0tcccIve II, and, but for the dismal crack
ofnfing of skin and wings, reminded one of
isfdhc sudden cngUltment of beetles bv
Snl hungry young robbin.
90 d" \ second fly went the same road.
e %Ihe third was more deliberately mastic-
iIeyated, and ventured to pat the de
~ Wourcr's head. Instantly all was changed.
.fSesThe Jaws gaped as if they would senar-
scco:ltc, the crushed ly dropped from the
Ioin1tongUc, and the vcll-known clicks pro
.GiS claimed Il battered and defiance which
z HehUngCr could not subdUe nor food ap-
Fd fpcasc. - ut least it seemed. and |
frontlink any but boy naturalist would
NTTh2vc yielded to the temptation to hing
Li3thc spitcful creature nut Of the window.
.luetPCThapS, too, a certain 0bstinacv made
me unwilling to - easily rclinquish tin,
uewly-f0rmed hope of DEMONSTRATING a
hat. At any rate, another fly presented,
and. like the former dropped the mo
Tee mcnt my fingers touched the head of the
"dI bat. With Il third | waited until the
'oI- bat seemed to b. actually swallowing,
en- and unable to either discontinue that pro
rye cess or open it, mouth To- any cNtcut
IN q" Its rage and PcNPlcNity were comical
tkST to behold, and. when the ilv was really
IL down, il seemed tO almost burst with the
BuIcftort to express its Indignation But
IA this did not prevent it from falling into
gl9. the same trap again and, to make a long
last story short, it finally learned by cxpe-
WI Ticncc that while chewing and swallow
1tat ing were more or less interrupted bv
sale swapping at me. both operations We're
iStSqWtc compatible with my gentle Stroking
st of its head. And even bat has brains
w enough To see the tOolishncSS of IoOsinw a
IN Il dinner i'm order to resent an unsolicited
Tow Kindness.
,HHt d" la a few days the bat would take
al g flies from my fingers; although. either
,T,' ,rs from ea%crncSS or because blinded by the
: WI light, II too often nippcd me sharply in
z nc ItS efforts To seize the victim.
CITY Its vorasjty was almost incredible.
ing For several weeks it dcvourcd at least
~ fifty houSc-ilic~ i'm a day lit was vacation.
lrne and my playmates had to assist mel. and
~ 'Yrn n once disposed of eighty between day
ne p break and sunset
oru " This hat kept for more than two
~ ;yye9 ~ months. 1t would shuttle across the
aIsc table when | entered the room. and lift
.ye,, eena up it, head for the expected fly. When
svef travelling 1t was carried in my breast
day pocket.
4 oul " In the fall it died. either from over
y. v eating or lack of exercise, for dared not
air let it out of doors, and it was 80 ant to
iniurc itself in the rooms that | seldom
wv a. allowed it To Rv
leMM 9, should add that it drank frequently
and greedily from the tip of 4 camcl's-
e N hair pencil.
cas- " 1t must b. admitted" the writer
0 liv SAYS, " that most bats are 'uncaunv' IN
Sn1, ,TGr respect and unfricndlv in disposition
re " while the legends of blOOd-thirStv Nam-
,oun piros have only too much foundation in
* n fact. But il Is only fair to them (thc
and bat iamily) to admit that the numb, r of
ISii sIe lies which thus iniure men and the
of larger animals Is very small; and that
real while all of our own bats and most of
.rtai those of other lands are fierce devourers
Bib of insects, and use their sharp teeth for
IN mt defense against their captors. there are
On many kinds, especially the larger (Rous-
mes Settcs ctC,h which live almost wholly
m u upon fruits, and are moreover. quite
of good eating themselves. so there should
mo mo be made distinction between the ven
maI Omous and the harmless Serpents M d the
an more and the less poisonous spiders.
r sfI - Perhaps one element of distrust of
en- the bat family arises from their appar-
Sd ent noncontormity to either of the COM
ng mon animal types. The bat seems to be
s, either bird with hair and teeth, bring
IN ing forth its young alive, or a mammal
10 with wings and the general aspect of Il
gar bird. Add to these exceptional features
II that their attitude when at rest, is al
SG ways head downward, and that their legs
a are - turned outward rs to bring the
iecss knees behind instead of in front, and we
,is, ,is, may almost pardon the common dislil e
,df of the whole family Of bats
q '' We may as well state at once that a
is really a mammal-that i, it
as with mOleS rats sheep, horses,
'onkeys and men in bringing forth
ng alive, and nursing them by
having red blood-corI uscles,
lHtain no nucleus; in being