The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-07-31
IoNoRANce AeoUT vAMPIREs.
Confused starles Aboat the biood-snek.
Ing nat of South America

Confused stories Aboat the Hood suck. /
Ing nat of South America.
Ever since the South American
continent was discovered, especially /
that part Of Il lying between the /
Amazon and OrinocO rivers. travellers .
have come from there with wonder
ful tales Of the vampires, or. a. they
call them. blood-sucking hats As a
fact. little Is known about tho pests
says the New York Tribune That
there are blOod.sucking bats which
feed not only on the blood Of man
but also animals Is an undoubtcd Tact
and though the writer himself has
never been bitten by oae, ho has.
while travelling In the interior OF
British Guiana. seen Indians &c
ponies that had undoubtedly bees
bitten by these bats In the case oi
a man attacked the toe or nose ie tho
point puncturod. while animals are
liable TO be bitten anywhere. How
the bat does its work has not been
made clear. for no one 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. II Is prob
able that the bat hovers during the
operation rather than rcsts ON tho
body The rapid vibration Of the
soft wings probably also has a sooih-
ing effect on the skin Of the part
operated on
Tho blood-suckcrs belong 20 only
two or three species, and wherever
these are found there are also many
others whose food Is only fruit or in
socts. or both. Tho most natural
mistake about the bats which are in
nocent Of preying on man or boast is
the common supposition that vampy-
rus spectrum l. a blood-suckcr Tho
stretch oi wings OF this bat frequent
Is reaches three feet. and Il has a
most fcrocious aspect, with enormous
ly large and pointed canine teeth
IL Il perfectly certain that in most
/ parts OF British Guiana this bat Is
only o fruit-cater and Is a serious pest
TO iruit-growcrs Bates and Edwards.
who travelled much In that country,
vOuch for its unlcssncss, and the
writer could ncvcr hear Of a ease
whore ono OF those giant bats wore
even suspected Of being blood
sucker Wallace however, gives d
different account
Tho vampires ara especially plen'
tiful In the Amazon valley Their
carnivorous proprn.i.c0 were once
discrcditcd. but ayo too we'll anthem
ticated. Horses aul cattle are often
bitten. and We found them In IA,
morning covered with blood. and re-
peatod attacks weaken and ultimate
~ destroy them. Some persons ar,
especially subject 81 The attacks OF
these bats. aud as native huts are
never sufficiently close 90 keep then
out. those unfortunate persons ar,
Obliged 10 sleep completely muiilc'
up M order @ avoid being made scri
ously an or even 10 ing their lives.
Wallace, In saying that "tho hut
are never Sufficiently close 20 keel
them out. Identity uses the wor
vampire as generic term and doc
not mean the yamTyrus spectrum. 10
that lat woull find no space larg
enough to let him into even the loose
Is built hu;s 1t tbo natives II /
this flipshud wa oi using the terri
vampire that bring trouble 10 man.
useful bat Ihc writer has been !
house whore every pr-cant!on wa
taken o. keep cut bats which wuul
have been perfect blessing in IA
rooms. as tacf would have caugh
hundreds Of mosquitoes.