The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-04-05
NI1}lllaes s'gIe
IGNORANCE ABOUT VAMPIRES.

Copfused stories About the Blood-Sucking
Bat of South America.
Ever since the South American CONT
nept was discovered, especially that
part of it lying between the Amazon
and Orinoco rivers, travellers have come
from there with wonderful tales OF
vampires, or, as they call them, blood
sucking bats. As fact, little is known
about these pests That there are
understanding bats which feed not only
on the blood of man but also animals
is an uudouhted fact, and though the
writer himself has never been bitten by
one. he has, while travelling in the in
terror of British Guiana, seen Indians
and ponies that had undoubtedly been
bitten BY these bats. In the case Of a
man being attacked the toe or nose is
the point punctured, while animals are
liable to be bitten anywhere. How the
bat does it work has not been made
clear. for no man has yet awakened
while being operated on by one of these
bats, despite the fact that considerable
blood is extracted and more or less loss
of blood takes place after the operation.
1t is probable that the bat hovers dur
ing the operation rather than rests on
the body. The rapid vibration of the
soft wings probably also has a soothing
effect on the skin of the part operated
on.
The blood-suckers belong to only two
or three species, and wherever these are
found there are also many others whose
fot
The most natural mistake about the
bats which are innocent of preying on
man or beast is the common suppose
ton that Vampyrus spectrum is
blood-sucker The stretch OF wings
Of this bat free, Iently reaches three
feet, and il has most ferocious aspect,
with enormously large and pointed
canine teeth. 1t is perfectly certain
that in most parts OF British Guiana
this bat is only fruit eater and is
serious pest to fruit growers. Bates
and Edwards, who Travelled much in
that country, vouch for its harmless
ness, and the writer could never hear
Of a case where one of these giant
bats was even suspected of being Il
blood-sucker. Wallace, however, gives
a different account
''The vampires are especially plepti-
full in the Amazon valley. Their car
nivorous propensities were once dis
credited, but are too well authenti-
Gated. Horses and cattle are often bit
ten, and repeated attacks weaken and
ultimately destroy them Some persons
are especially subject to the attacks OF
these bats, and as native huts are never
sufficiently close to keep them out,
those unfortunate persons are obliged
TO sleep completely muffied up in order
10 avoid being made seriously i'll or
even losing their lives
Wallace, in saying that ''the huts are
never sufficiently tight to keep them
out" evidently uses the word vampire
as a generic term and does not mean
the Vampyrus spectrum, for that bat
would find no space large enough 20
let him into even the loosely built huts
of the natives 1t is this slipshod way
of using the term vampire that brings
trouble to many useful bat. The
writer has been in house where every
precaution was taken to keep out bats
which would have been perfect bless
ing in the rooms, as they would have
caught hundreds of mosquitoes. N. Y.
Tribune.