Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1895-06-21

that bats. or at least all that
inhabit North America, are
9 perfectly harmless little ami.
mails, the presence of one, says the
Star, excites almost as
much alaim as does O snake. There ia
something 80 silent and mysterious,
not to say uncanpy, about them that
popular prejudice cannot be easily
overcome. They suggest at once
darkness, damp, unwholesome caverns
and q general tendency to the super
stitious, for many ghost has turned
out to BIO bat. And whom one is
killed, and as matter of mistaken
principle q bat is almost always
killed on sight, the examination is not
likely to DO reassuring, for its appear
ences are rather against it. Were il
not for the fact that it is 80 small as
to be obviously harmless. it would
seem to BIO very formidable animal,
for it has hideous face and mouth
filled with sharp teeth. If bat could
DO multiplied i'll size few times, wo
should have an animal by tho sido of
which tho tabled dragon would pale
into comparative insignifcance In
decd, some of tho bats inhabiting the
tropics are of considerable size, but
they are also comparatively harmless.
! While bats are not likely to be
selected rs pete, there ere, neverthe-
less, many things of interest about
Thorn. In the first place, they arc the
only mammals in the world adapted
for sustained flight. The flying
squirrel, flying lemur, etc., can fly,
or rather snil, from tro, to tree, but
they cannot continue in the air, in
fact, can only sail from higher to n
lower point. Bats, however, can con-
tinuc on the wing for hours, and are
30 perfectly adapted ;or this sort of
existence that their appearance on the
ground is awkward in tho extreme.
Tho name of flying mouse, given
them by our early English ancestors,
was much moro appropriate, for they
have quite tho appearance of mouse.
In certain parts of Britain they are
still called filter mice. But different
rs bats may seem from ordinary man.
mails, their adaptation for flight has
been accomplished by nature in very
simple manner, as may be seen by
comparing the skeleton with that of q
mammal or bird. The essential fact
has been brought about by greatly
lcngthening tho bones of tho fingers
MS point of attachment for thin mem
branous wings, or, as Goldsmith hap
PLY puts it, "the fingers serve like
masts that keep the canvas of sail
spread and regulate its motions" The
wing membranes are continuous from
tho last finger and thumb to the sides
OF tho body, reaching below tho lsnoe,
and from this point to the ankle or
even to the foot. When the bat is ut
rest the fingers are folded by n move
ment ut tho root of the hand, which
brings them together In compact
bundle like the ribs of closed UNI
brelln. During the daytime, or while
i'll repose, the body is supported in
ono of two ways, either it is hung by
tho claws of the hind feet, with the
head downward, or it ID prone, that is,
with the front of the body downward
on the plane of support. The usual
manner is to SEQ them suspended by
tho hind feet.
1T need hardly be said that bats are
nocturnal, and never seen during tho
sunlight, unless startled from some
dark corner. They spend the day in
hollow troes, oaverns and dark re-
cesses of buildings. They are said
to be especially abundant in the Vel
lowstone National Park, whore they
congregate in immense numbers dur
ing the day in the caverns and little
pockets IL the rocks near the hot
springs. They seem to appreciate the
warmth, and hundreds may be startled
from every granny. In cold countries
the bats hibernate during the winter,
or when Ii is too cold for them to cap
ture their insect food A few species
probably migrate much as do the
birds, thus following the food supply.
The food of American bats is almost
exclusively insects, and of these they
destroy great numbers They are
especially fond of flies, and arc often
seen in houses in early evening in
dustriously plying their vocation. In
South Amerioa ut least one species,
the vampire, sucks the blood of other
mammals, and many very extraordi-
nary stories have been told of its
bloodthirstiness. 1t is said to be
especially persistent attacking eleep.
ing natives, often drawing so much
blood as to actually weaken tue man
before detection. But probubly the
stories have been exaggerated.
The fruit-eating bats are confined
to the warmer regions of Asia and
Africs, and among them are tho largest
kinds known. The Kaiong bat of
Java measures five feet between the
tips Of its wings.
Tho eyes of bats arc small and
seemingly of comparatively little use,
but the other organs of sense, espe-
cially hearing, smelling and the sense
OF touch, are exceedingly acute. The
large external ears of many species
bear evidence of their having been
constructed to catch the slightest
sound, and the sense of touch is so
exceedingly delicate, particularly in
the wings, that q bat deprived of