Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-06-28
ABOUT BATS.

ABOUT BATS.
Some seasonable Information Concerning:
tho Nocturnal Travolers-Our Local
Scientific Authority Takes Up
Their Defense.
LANCASTER, Pa, June y. 1881.
De. $. 3. RATHvON.
Dear Sir:
l address you for information upon y
subject that at this season Of the year is
no doubt one of general interest. A lew
evenings since company of ladies' sitting
in a parlOr were thrown into . state Of
great CONSERVATION by the sudden appear
ance Of a bat. Their first impulse, after the
manner Of their sex, and indeed OF many
people Of both sexes, was to cover their
heads with the most convenient articles At
hand, and the second to get out OF the
room as quickly as possible. AS the only
adult male of the party was ut
once duly impressed with the grave re
sponsibility OF my position, and, securing
a broom, after 4 few passes dispatched the
unwelcome intruder by a vigorous blow.
Between my bushes may be permitted
to remark that this performance was re-
garded by my fair companions as one OF
exalted herOism but grateful as the
thereby acquired has proved.
feel that its complete enjoyment wOnld
be enhanced were to be assured that it is
entirely deserved. WhatI write to ask,
therefore, is !: Was there any especial de-
gree of bravery in my volunteering to
meet the winged monster alone, with un-
covered head, and without other weapon
of oflense or defense than the despised
broom? Is the bat such \ dreadfuilY
dangerous creature, anyhow: Why do
nine people out OF ten cover their heads
the minute they see \ bat? and finally
what is the easiest and most sensible way
Of getting rid of these uncomfortable in
truders? As these queries and their an
swers have perhaps Il more than personal
interest, l take the liberty OF imposing
them upon your attention and requesting
4 reply through the columns of tho INTEL.
LIGENCER.
Very truly yours, j.
Reply.
On the whole, if We all had an intelligent
apprehension of the functions of the bat
in the economy of nature, We, perhaps,
would not desire to get rid Of them so long
as necessity for their continuance exists
indeed feel persuaded that if there
a very cOmfOrtless place to live in. Taking
tho whole bat-family together, (CHEIRoP-
terra or wing -handedD with 4 few excep-
tiOns, it is tnsectirorous, and when III in
happens to fly into an open win
dow of a dwelling, ton to ono it has been
heetllessly in pursuit Of = NIGHTLY
ing insect. Our prejudices have been
through our. ignorance Of their
life, characters, habits and economies and
can only bc dispcllcd by scientific cduca-
tion. A few species in the East Indies are
frugisorous, and in Central and South
America there are sanguineous species (thc
" vampires for instance), but the charac-
ters of even these arc greatly exaggerated.
But those of North America, and especial
ly those Of the United States, arc insectirOr-
OuS; and the whole end and aim Of their
lives is the pro creating OF the species and
the capture of insect food as the sustaining
of themselves and their offspring.
When the season of insects is over, and tho
chill winds of autumn supervene, the be-
nevOlent functions of the bat are ended for
the season, and he suspends himself in any
cover that will shield him from the wintry
blast, out Of the way, and harms nobody
or thing. But as soon rs genial spring re-
turns, and the insect world renewS, the bat
will also be there Oh his beneliccnt mis-
sion to the human family. If it were not
for the demands OF our mental and spirit
nal maws, there are many indi.ent
specimens Of humanity in the world, who
might we'll envy the physical cndowments
Of the bat. 1t would be a cheap and easy
way to pass 4 hard wintcr-tO be suspend
Ell in a cOmatOSe state, without eating any
thing or needing to cat anything, until the
return of vivifying spring.
What the swallows and other purely in
sectivOrous birds do by day, the bat does
by night, and when one enters Il house in
pursuit Of his prey, he is frightened fully
Is much as any of its inmates possibly can
be and his efforts to escape are interpreted.
through our prcjudices OF aversiOns, Us SD
many sinister designs upon us. OfcOurSe
f we seized Il bat with our hands, he
would bite us i'm self-defence, but so would
! hundred other small and otherwise in
offensive animals. With all our repuS-
nance to the bat, he is not very far re-
moved from us in systematic classification.
At the head of the column are the ttro-
landed animals (man), then the ,four-
tdnded ( monkey, and then the Ting-
tuaded Oats. All the other subjects Of
.ho animal kingdom arc below these.
1t is true, that u large Battery in or
near our dwelling is not cOntiguity that
is ut all agreeable, for tho fragrance Of it
IS not rs pleasant as peaches, or "Araby
Inc blcst - but all VIC have to do is to
expose it to the light OF day, and it
bic occasion l expelled u colony Of five
hat 1,oI NoI hnl, :,,I
sign board, by merely removing the board
lbOut six inches from the wall, and letting
i: remain SO two or three days. They
= vamOsed' and never returned.
In an abstract sense tho absolute nCccs-
'ity of the bat, rs an equipOise in natures
may not be very complimentary
20 the moral condition of the human fam
ly-nO moro arc prisons and gibbets to its
.ivil condition. 1t is the representative of
IN evil that is permitted to cOunteract
" circumvent some greatere evil, and when
hat greater evil is entirely subdued we
nay feel reasonably assured that the bat S
will be gone, and that it then
will become extinct rs many ANIMALS be-
ore it have; but until then we must tol-
rate it and allow it to perform its allotted
Ii every man on earth was
perfect claw unto HIMSELF" and drank
10 Intoxicating liquor, there would be an
nd to it's manufacture and sale. But this
would impose a mountain of self-den on
nan, and through that selfdenial alone
an the evil be radically extinguished, or
leld in abcy ance. MOles and bats, and
'OxiOus insects, and hideous reptiles. arc
'ut the representative Outbirths of CORES
'onding principles which have had their
in the moral realm, and if VIC
earned to shudder at tho principles as we
10 at their representatives, it would indi-