[U]It is, perhaps, because they are only found in the Levant and in Spain, that they are designated by their country; for the name ofgenetis not derived from any of the ancient languages, and is probably only a new appellation taken from some place abounding with them, a custom which is very common in Spain, where a certain race of horses are calledgenets.
[U]It is, perhaps, because they are only found in the Levant and in Spain, that they are designated by their country; for the name ofgenetis not derived from any of the ancient languages, and is probably only a new appellation taken from some place abounding with them, a custom which is very common in Spain, where a certain race of horses are calledgenets.
The skin of the genet makes a light and handsome fur, it was formerly fashionable for muffs, and consequently very dear; but the manufacturers having got the art of counterfeiting them, by painting the skins of greyrabbits with black spots, their value is abated, from being no longer esteemed.
SUPPLEMENT.
I formerly stated that genets were not to be found in any parts of Europe, except Spain and Turkey, but since then I have learned that they are common in the southern provinces of France, and that at Poitou they are known by that name even to the peasantry. In April, 1775, the Abbé Roubard sent me a genet that was killed at Livray, in Poitou, which, except some trifling variations in the colour of the hair, was similar to that I have described; and he assured me that the species was also to be found in the neighbouring provinces; and M. Delpeche informed me, in a letter, that it was a constant practice with the peasants of the province of Rouergue to bring dead genets to the merchants in the winter; he added, that they were not very numerous, that they were principally found near Villefranche, and that they burrow in holes like the rabbits, especially in winter.
THE BLACK WOLF.
WE mention ibis animal merely as a supplement to the description we have given of the wolf, for there can be little doubt of his belonging to the same species. We have already said, that in the northern parts of Europe there were some wolves black, and others white, and that the black wolves were generally the largest; but the one we are now about to describe came from Canada, and was smaller than the common wolf; but we have had repeated occasions to remark, that the animals of the northern parts of America are less in size than those belonging to the north of Europe, and this difference in size was the chief, if not the only variation in him; besides, he had been taken very young, and ever after kept in a state of captivity, which also might have prevented the completion of his growth. Our common wolf is less in Canada than in Europe; and in that country black wolves and foxes are not uncommon. We saw this animal alive, and to us it appeared perfectly to resemble the common wolf both in figure and disposition.
Engraved for Barr’s Buffon.
FIG. 115.Muscovy Rat.FIG. 114.Canadian Musk Rat.
FIG. 116.Mexican Hog.
THE CANADIAN MUSK-RAT, AND THE MUSCOVY MUSK-RAT.
THOUGH these two animals have been denominated musk-rats, and have a few common characteristics, yet they ought not to be confounded; they must also be distinguished from the Pilori, or Musk-rat, of the Antilles; all three forming different species, and belonging to different climates; the first, also called Ondatra, is found in Canada; the second, or Desman, in Lapland and Muscovy; and the Pilori, in Martinico and other of the Antille islands.
The Musk-rat of Canada (fig. 115) differs from that of Muscovy in having all its toes separate, eyes very conspicuous, and a short nose; whereas the latter (fig. 114) has the toes of the hind feet united by a membrane, exceedingly small eyes, and a long nose like theshrew-mouse. The tail of both is flat, in which, as well as in many other characteristics, they differ from the pilori of the Antilles. The tail of the pilori is short, and, like that of other rats, cylindrical; the other two have long tails, and the head of the first is like that of a water-rat, and the head of the second resembles a shrew-mouse.
In the memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, for 1725, we meet with a very accurate description of the Canadian musk-rat. M. Sarrasin, a correspondent of the Academy, dissected a number of them at Quebec, and made some striking and singular remarks; by comparing his description with our own, we have not the least doubt but the animal which he calls the musk-rat of Canada, is the same with that now before us.
This animal is of the size of a small rabbit, and of the figure of a rat. Its head is short, and similar to that of the water-rat; its hair is soft and glossy, with a thick down underneath, like that of the beaver; its tail is long and covered with little scales, like that of the other rats, though of a different form, for instead of being cylindrical it is flat from the middle to the tip, and rather round at the insertion. The toes are not united by membranes, but furnishedwith a long thick hair, which enables the animal to swim with ease. Its ears are very short, but not naked, as in the common rat, but covered with hair, both outwardly and inwardly; its eyes are large; it has two incisive teeth, about an inch long, in the under jaw, and two shorter ones in the upper; these four teeth are very strong, and by them the animal is enabled to gnaw through wood.
The striking singularities remarked by M. Sarrasin, in this animal are, first, the muscular force and great expansibility in the skin, which enables the animal to contract and compress its body into a smaller size. Secondly, the suppleness of the false ribs, which admits a contraction of body so considerable that the musk-rat can obtain an easy passage through holes where smaller animals cannot find admission. Thirdly, the manner in which the female voids her urine, the urethra not terminating, as in other animals, under the clitoris, but at a hairy eminence above the os pubis, and in which there is an orifice, that serves the urine to escape. This strange organization is found in only a few species of animals, as rats and apes have three apertures; and these two are perhaps the only animals who have a passage for the urine distinct from the organs of generation: to thefemales alone, however, does this singularity belong, for the conformation of the males is the same with that of other quadrupeds. M. Sarrasin observes, fourthly, that the testicles which, as in other rats, are situated on each side of the anus, become exceedingly large, considering the size of the animal, during the rutting season; but that over, they not only change in size, consistency, and colour, but even in situation, and with the seminal vessels, and all the organs of generation become almost invisible. And, lastly, that the vessels which contain the musk, or perfume, of this animal, under the form of a milky humor, and which adjoin the parts of generation, undergo the same changes; that during the rutting season they enlarge in a great degree, and then the perfume is exceedingly strong, and may be sensibly distinguished at a considerable distance, but at its expiration they become wrinkled, decay, and at length entirely disappear. The change in the vessels, which contain the perfume, is effected more quickly, and more completely, than that of the parts of generation. These vessels are common to both sexes, and at the above periods contain a considerable quantity of milky humor; and the secretion is formed, and the humor voided, nearly inthe same place as the urine of other quadrupeds. These singularities were worthy the attention of so able an anatomist as M. Sarrasin. We have already mentioned similar alterations in the parts of generation in the water-rat, the campagnol, and the mole; but this is not the place for us to enlarge on the general consequences which might be drawn from these singular facts, nor even on the immediate references they may have to our theory of generation. These we shall soon have occasion to present with more advantage, by uniting them with other facts to which they relate.
As the Canadian musk-rat belongs to the same country as the beaver, is fond of water, and has nearly the same figure, colour, and hair, they have been often compared to each other; it is even affirmed, that, at the first glance, a full grown musk-rat may be mistaken for a beaver of a month old. But in the form of their tails there is a considerable difference; that of the beaver being oval and flat horizontally; whereas that of the musk-rat is of a considerable length, and flat, or compressed vertically. In disposition and instinct, however, these animals have a strong resemblance. The musk-rats, as well as the beavers, live in societies during the winter. They form littledwellings about two feet and a half in diameter and sometimes larger, in which is often an association of several families. These habitations are not for the purpose of resorting to, in order to sleep like the marmots, for five or six months, but to obtain a shelter from the inclemency of the weather; they are of a round form, and covered with a dome about a foot thick; the materials for making which are herbs and rushes interwoven together, and cemented with clay, which they prepare with their feet; these huts are impenetrable by the rain, and secured from the effects of inundations by being elevated on the inside, and tho’ covered with snow several feet thick in the winter these animals do not seem to be incommoded by this circumstance. They do not provide a stock of provisions for that season, but dig a sort of passages round their dwellings, for the purpose of procuring roots and water. As winter is not their season of love, they reap but little advantage from associating. All this period they remain totally deprived of light, and therefore no sooner has the mild breath of spring begun to dissolve the snow, and uncover the tops of their little mansions, than the huntsmen open their dome suddenly, dazzle them with the light, and kill or seize all those who have notobtained shelter in their subterraneous passages; but as their skins are valuable, and their flesh not unpalatable, thither they are also pursued for slaughter. Such as escape quit their habitations about the same time. They wander about during the summer but always in pairs, for then is the time of their amours; then it is that all their vessels expand, and feeding largely upon the fresh roots and vegetables which the season affords, they acquire a strong smell of musk; a scent which, though agreeable to Europeans, is so disgustful to the savages, that they distinguish one of their rivers, from being frequented by a number of them, the Stinking River, and the animal itself the Stinkard.
They produce once a year, and generally have five or six young. Their time of gestation cannot be long, as they are not in season till the summer, and their young are full grown by October, when they seek for shelter; they construct new huts every year, and are never known to revisit their former habitations. Their cry is a kind of groan, which the huntsmen imitate in order to allure them. So strong are their fore-teeth, and so calculated for gnawing, that if shut up in a box, they soon make a hole large enough to escape through, a faculty which they possess in common withthe beaver. They do not swim so fast, or so long as the beaver, and are often seen upon the ground; they run very indifferently, and in their walk they waddle like a goose. Their skin retains the smell of musk, which renders it of little value to the furriers, but their under hair, or down, is used in the manufacture of hats. These animals are not very wild, and when taken young are easily tamed; and are then tolerably handsome, for their tail, which is afterwards long and disagreeable, is very short. They play with all the innocence and sprightliness of young cats, and they might be reared with ease but for their disagreeable smell.
The Canadian and Muscovy musk-rats, are the only animals belonging to the northern regions which yield any perfume, for the odour of thecastoreum(obtained from the badger) is highly disagreeable; and it is only in warm climates that we meet with the animals which furnish the real musk, the civet, and other delicate perfumes.
The musk-rat of Muscovy might, perhaps, present singularities analogous to those of the Canadian, and not less remarkable, but it does not appear that any naturalist has yet had an opportunity to dissect, or examine it alive. Of its exterior form alone we can speak, as thatsent from Lapland, for the king’s cabinet, was in a dry state, and therefore I can only add my regret that so little is known about it.
THE PECCARI, OR MEXICAN HOG.
AMONG the animals of the New World, few species are more numerous, or more remarkable, than that of the Mexican Hog.[V](fig. 116) At the first glance he resembles our wild boar, or rather the hog of Siam, which, as we have already observed, is nothing more than a variety of the wild boar; and for which reason this has been called the American wild boar, or American hog. He is, however, of a distinct species, and refuses to engender either with our wild or domestic kinds; a circumstance of which I was convinced, by having reared one of these animals in company with several sows.
[V]This animal has a variety of names; besides the above, some call himTajassou,Tajacou,Paquira,Saino, &c.
[V]This animal has a variety of names; besides the above, some call himTajassou,Tajacou,Paquira,Saino, &c.
He differs also from the hog in a number of characteristics, both external and internal. He is less corpulent, and his legs are shorter;in the stomach and intestines, there is a difference of conformation. He has no tail, and his bristles are much stronger than those of the wild boar; and, lastly, he has on his back, near the crupper, an opening from which there is discharged an ichorous humor of a very disagreeable smell. This is the only animal which has an opening in this part of the body. In the civets, the badger, and the genet, the reservoir for their perfume is situated beneath the parts of generation; and in the musk-animal, and the musk-rat of Canada, we find it under the belly. The moisture which exudes from this aperture in the back of the Mexican hog, is secreted by large glands, which M. Daubenton has described with much attention, as well as the other singularities of this animal; Dr. Tyson also in the Philosophical Transactions, No. 153, has given a good description of it. Without minutely detailing the observations of these two able anatomists, I shall barely remark, that the latter was mistaken in asserting that this animal has three stomachs, or, as Mr. Ray says, a gizzard and two stomachs. M. Daubenton plainly shews, that it is only one stomach divided by two similar pouches, which give it the appearance of three; that only one of these pouches has a pyrolus, or orifice below,for the discharge of its contents; that, consequently, we ought to consider the two others merely as appendages to, or rather portions of, the same stomach.
The Mexican hog might be rendered a domestic animal like the common kind; he has nearly the same habits and natural inclinations; feeds upon the same aliments, and his flesh, though more dry and lean, is not unpalatable, and may be improved by castration. When killed, not only the parts of generation, if the flesh is intended to be eaten, (as is also done with the wild boar) must be taken instantly away, but also the glands at the opening in the back, and which are common to both male and female, must likewise be removed, for if this operation be deferred for only half an hour, the flesh becomes utterly unfit to be eaten.
These animals are extremely numerous in all the warm climates of South America. They go in herds of two or three hundred together, and unite, like hogs, in the defence of each other. They are particularly fierce when their young are attempted to be taken from them. They surround their plunderers, attack them without fear, and frequently make their lives pay the forfeit of their rashness. In their native country they prefer the mountainousparts to the low and level grounds; neither do they seek marshes nor mud, like our hogs, but remain in the forests, where they subsist upon wild fruits, roots, and vegetables; they are an unceasing enemy to all the serpent kinds, with which the uncultivated forests of the New Continent abound: as soon as they perceive a serpent or viper, they seize it with their fore hoofs, skin it in an instant, and devour the flesh.
These animals are very prolific; the young ones follow the dam, and do not separate from her till they are full grown. If taken young they are very easily tamed, and soon lose all their natural ferocity, but they never shew any signs of docility, but continue stupid, without attachment, or even seeming to know the hand that feeds them. They do no mischief, and may be permitted to run tame, without apprehending any dangerous consequence. They seldom stray far from home, but return of themselves to the sty: they never quarrel among each other, except when they are fed in the same trough. At such times they have an angry grunt, much stronger and harsher than that of a common hog; but they seldom scream, only when suddenly surprised, or frightened, when they have a shrill manner of blowing like the wild boar. When enraged theydraw their breath with great force, and point their bristles upward which more resemble the sharp armour of the hedge-hog than the bristles of the wild boar.
The species of the Mexican hog is preserved without alteration, and altogether unmixed with that of the European hog, which has been transported to, and become wild in, the forests of America. These animals meet in the woods, and even herd together, and yet never produce an intermediate breed. It is the same with the Guinea hog, which has greatly multiplied in America, after being brought thither from Africa.
However approximate the species of the European hog, the Guinea-hog, and the peccari, may appear, it is, nevertheless, evident, that they are each distinct, and separate from the others since they inhabit the same climate without intermixture. Of the three, the strongest, most robust, and most formidable, is our wild boar. The peccari, though equally fierce, is yet less active, and inferior as to the engines of defence, his tusks being much shorter. This animal dreads the cold, and cannot subsist, without shelter, even in our temperate regions; nor can our wild boar exist in countries which are very cold; therefore it isimpossible that either of them could have found a passage from the one continent to the other, over any northern country; and therefore the Mexican hog cannot be considered as an European hog degenerated, or changed, by the climate of America, but as an animal peculiar to the southern regions of that continent.
Ray and other naturalists, have maintained, that the humor discharged from the back of the Mexican hog is a kind of musk, an agreeable perfume, even as it exudes from the body of the animal; that it is perceived at a considerable distance, and perfumes every place he inhabits, and through which he passes. I have, I must own, a thousand times experienced very contrary effects; for so disagreeable is the smell of this moisture, on being separated from the body of the animal, that I could not collect it without being exceedingly incommoded. It becomes less fœtid by being dried in the air, but never acquires the agreeable smell of musk, or of civet; and naturalists would have expressed themselves with more propriety, if they had compared it to that ofcastoreum.
SUPPLEMENT.
M. de la BORDE says, there are two kinds of the Peccari, or Mexican hog, in Cayenne, which never intermix; the largest of which is black, excepting two white spots upon its jaws, and that the hair of the small one is rather red; but I apprehend the differences are occasioned by age, or some accidental circumstance. He adds, that those of the large size do not associate with men; but that they live in the woods, upon seeds, roots, and fruits; that they dig in the damp soils for worms, and that they go in flocks of two or three hundred. It is no difficult matter to shoot them, as, instead of flying, they collect together, and will stand several discharges; nay, they will even attack the dogs, and sometimes men. He mentions an instance where he was out with a party that were surrounded by a flock of these hogs, who were not to be intimidated by a continual firing, and could not be dispersed until several of them werekilled. When taken young, they are soon rendered familiar, but they will not intermix with the domestic hogs. When living in their natural state of freedom, they often reside in the marshes, and will swim across rivers. Their flesh, though palatable, is not so good as the common hog; it has a strong resemblance to that of the hare, and is without lard or grease.
M. de la Borde speaks of another species of hog found in Guiana, which he callspatira, in these terms: “The patira is about the size of the small Mexican hog, and the only difference is the former having a white stripe along the back; they live in large forests, and, in general, herd in families. They will defend themselves against dogs, when hunted by them: when likely to be overpowered, they seek shelter in hollow trees, or in holes of the earth, that have been made by armadilloes, which they entered backwards. To get them out, the hunters employ every means to irritate them, (having first inclosed a space round the hole) for when angry they will quit their retreat, and the men, standing prepared, destroy them with pitchforks and sabres. If a hunter observes a single one in a hole, and does not then wish to take it, he closes up theentrance, and is sure to have him the next day. Their flesh is superior to that of other hogs. When caught young they are easily rendered domestic, but even then they preserve their natural inveteracy against dogs, whom they attack on all occasions. They constantly live in the marshes, unless when entirely covered with water. The females produce two at a time, and they breed at all seasons of the year. Their hair is soft, like that of the Mexican hog. When tamed they follow their masters, and allow themselves to be handled by those they know, but strangers they always threaten by shewing their teeth.”
THE ROUSETTE, OR TERNAT BAT, THE ROUGETTE, OR LITTLE TERNAT, AND THE VAMPYRE.
THE Roussette[W]and the Rougette[X]seem to form two distinct species, but they so nearly resemble each other that they ought not to bepresented apart, as they differ only in the size of the body and colour of the hair. The Great Ternat, (fig. 117) whose hair is of a reddish brown, is nine inches in length, from the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail, and in breadth three feet, when the membranes, which serve it for wings, are fully extended. The Rougette, whose hair is of a reddish ash colour, is hardly more than five inches and a half in length, and two feet in breadth, when the wings are extended; and its neck is half encircled with a stripe of lively red, intermixed with orange, of which we perceive no vestige on the neck of the roussette. They both belong to nearly the same hot climates of the old continent, are met with in Madagascar, in the island of Bourbon, in Ternat, the Philippines, and other islands of the Indian Archipelago, where they seem to be more common than on the neighbouring continents.
[W]Also called the Flying Dog, and the Great Bat of Madagascar.
[W]Also called the Flying Dog, and the Great Bat of Madagascar.
[X]Or the Red-necked Flying Dog.
[X]Or the Red-necked Flying Dog.
In the hot countries of the New World, there is another flying quadruped, of which we know not the American name, but shall call it Vampyre, because it sucks the blood of men, and other animals while asleep, without causing sufficient pain to awaken them. This American animal is of a different species from the bats just mentioned, both of which are to be found solely in Africa, and in the southern parts of Asia.
Engraved for Barr’s Buffon.
FIG. 117.Ternat Bat.
FIG. 118.Bull Dog BatFIG: 119.Senegal Bat
THE vampyre[Y]is smaller than the rougette, which is itself smaller than the roussette. The first, when it flies, seems to be of the size of a pigeon, the second of a raven, and the third of a large hen. Both the roussette and rougette have well shaped heads, short ears, and round noses, nearly like that of a dog. Of the vampyre, on the contrary, the nose is long, the aspect as hideous as that of the ugliest bats; its head is unshapely, and its ears are large, open, and very erect; its noise is deformed, its nostrils resembling a funnel, with a membrane at the top, which rises up in the form of a sharp horn, or cock’s-comb, and greatly heightens the deformity of its face. There is no doubt, therefore, that this species is different from the Ternat bats. It is an animal not less mischievous than it is deformed; it is the pest of man, and the torment of other animals. In confirmation of this, the authentic testimony of M. de la Condamine may be produced. “The bats,” says he, “which suck the blood of horses, mules, and even men, when they do guard against it by sleepingunder the shelter of a pavilion, are a scourge common to most of the hot countries of America. Of these some are of a monstrous size. At Borja, and several other places, they have entirely destroyed the large cattle which the missionaries had brought thither, and which had begun to multiply.” These facts are confirmed by many other historians and travellers. Petrus Martyr, who wrote not long after the conquest of South America, says, that there are bats in the isthmus of Darien which suck the blood of men and animals while they are asleep, so as to much weaken, and frequently kill them. Jumilla, Don George Juan, and Don Ant. de Ulloa, assert the same. Though from the above testimonies it appears that these blood-sucking bats are numerous, particularly in South America, yet we have not been able to obtain a single individual. Seba has presented us with a figure and description of this animal, of which the nose is so extraordinary, that I am astonished travellers should not have remarked a deformity so palpable as to strike the most superficial beholder; possibly the animal of which Seba gives the figure, is not the same with that which we distinguish by the name of the vampyre, or blood-sucker; It is also possible, that this figure of Seba’s isfalse or exaggerated, or at least that this deformed nose is only a monstrous accidental variety; though of these deformities there may be found permanent examples in some other species of bats. By time alone will these obscurities be removed.
[Y]An American animal called the Great American Bat, or Flying Dog of New Spain.
[Y]An American animal called the Great American Bat, or Flying Dog of New Spain.
Both the roussette and rougette are in the cabinet of the King of France; and it is to the island of Bourbon that we are indebted for them. They belong exclusively to the Old Continent; and in no part either of Africa or Asia are they so numerous as the vampyre is in America. These animals are larger, stronger, and perhaps more mischievous than the vampyre. But it is by open force, and in the day as well as night, that they commit hostilities. Fowls and small birds are the objects of their destructive fury; they even attack men, and wound their faces; but no traveller has accused them of sucking the blood of men and animals while asleep.
The ancients had but an imperfect knowledge of these winged quadrupeds, which may, indeed, be termed monsters; and it is probable, that from those whimsical models of Nature, they received the idea of harpies. The wings, the teeth, the claws, the cruelty, the voracity; the nastiness, and all the destructive qualities, and noxious faculties of the harpies, bear nosmall resemblance to those of the Ternat bat. Herodotus seems to have denoted them, when he mentions that there were large bats which greatly incommoded the men employed in collecting cassia round the marshes of Asia, and that, to shield themselves from the dangerous bites of these animals, they were obliged to cover the body and face with leather. Strabo speaks of very large bats in Mesopotamia, whose flesh was palatable. Among the moderns, these large bats have been mentioned, though in vague terms, by Albertus, Isidorus, and Scaliger. With more precision have they been treated of by Linscot, Nicholas Matthias, and Francis Pyrard; Oliger Jacobeus has given a short description of them with a figure; and lastly, in Seba, and in Edwards, we find well-executed description and figures, which correspond with our own.
The Ternat bats are carnivorous animals, voracious, and possessed of an appetite for every thing that offers. In a dearth of flesh or fish, they feed on vegetables and fruits of every kind. They are fond of the juice of the palm-tree, and it is easy to take them by placing near their retreats vessels filled with palm-tree water, or any other fermented liquor, with which they are sure to intoxicate themselves. They fasten themselves to trees, and hang from them bytheir claws. They usually fly in flocks, and more by night than by day. Places which are much frequented they shun, and their favourite residence is uninhabited islands. To copulation they are strongly inclined. In the male the sex is very apparent, and not concealed in a scabbard, like that of quadrupeds, but extends forwards from the body, nearly as it does in the ape. In the female the sex is equally conspicuous; she has but two nipples, and those situated upon the breast; she produces more than once a year, but the number at each time is but small. Their flesh, when young, is not unpalatable; the Indians[Z]are fond of it, and compare its flavour to that of the partridge or the rabbit.
[Z]The Moors and Malayans are most certainly meant, as the Indians neither eat nor kill any animal. Lett. M. La Nux.
[Z]The Moors and Malayans are most certainly meant, as the Indians neither eat nor kill any animal. Lett. M. La Nux.
The American travellers unanimously agree, that the great bats of the new continent suck the blood both of men and animals while they are asleep, and without awakening them. Of this singular fact, no mention is made by any of the Asiatic or African travellers, who speak of the Ternat bats. Their silence, nevertheless, is no adequate proof of their being guiltless, especially as they have so many otherresemblances to those great bats, which we denominated vampyres. I have, therefore, thought it worth while to examine how it is possible that these animals should suck the blood of a person asleep, without causing a pain so sensible as to awake him. Were they to cut the flesh with their teeth, which are as large as those of other quadrupeds of the same size, the pain of the bite would effectually rouse any of the human species, however soundly asleep; and the repose of animals is more easily disturbed than that of man. Thus it would also be, were they to inflict the wound with their claws. With their tongue only, then, is it possible for them to make such minute apertures in the skin, as to imbibe the blood through them, and to open the veins without causing an acute pain.
The tongue of the vampyre I have not had an opportunity of observing, but those of several Ternat bats which M. Daubenton attentively examined, seemed to indicate the possibility of the fact; their tongues were sharp, and full of prickles directed backward; and it appears that these prickles, or points, from their exceeding minuteness, may be insinuated into the pores of the skin, and may penetrate them so deep as to command a flow of the blood, by the continuedfunction of the tongue. But it is needless to reason upon a fact of which all the circumstances are imperfectly known to us, and of which some are perhaps exaggerated, or erroneously related.
SUPPLEMENT.
AMONG other remarks which I received from the ingenious M. de la Nux upon this work, after its first publication, were the following respecting these animals. He says, in general terms, that the size and number of the Great Ternat Bats are both exaggerated; that instead of attacking men they invariably endeavour to get from them, consequently never bite but when taken, or defending themselves, which they do then most dreadfully; and that instead of being ferocious animals, they are perfectly gentle in their dispositions. Speaking from his own experience, he says, both the great and small Ternat bats are natives of Bourbon, the isles of France, and Madagascar, in the former of which he had resided upwards of fifty years; when he first arrivedthere they were very numerous in many places where at present they are not to be found, and for these reasons, that the forests were then adjacent to them, which had been cleared away by the settlements, and that it is only in forests they can subsist; besides, they bring forth but once a year, and are hunted, both by whites and negroes, for the sake of their flesh and grease. The females are in season about the month of May, and produce towards the end of September. They appear to come to maturity in about eight months, since there are no small ones to be seen after April or May, and the young are to be known from the old by their colours being more vivid: they become grey with age, but it is uncertain at what period; at this time their flesh is very disagreeable, and their fat alone, of which they have plenty during the summer, is eaten by the negroes. They never feed upon any kind of flesh, but entirely on bananas, peaches, and other fruits and flowers with which these forests abound: they are exceedingly fond of the juices of certain umbellated flowers; and it is possibly for the purpose of sucking the different species of them that they have such a number of sharp papillæ on their tongues. They never touch the skins of the mango,perhaps because it is resinous. Some of them which have been caught, and kept alive, have been known to eat bread and sugar-canes, but I believe, even in that state, no kind of meat, either raw or prepared. There cannot be any thing to apprehend from these animals, either personally, or even for poultry, because they are incapable of seizing upon the smallest bird, for if they come too near the ground they fall, and are then under the necessity of climbing up some elevated object before they can resume their flight, and in this case they climb up the first thing they meet with, even if it be a man. They trail their bodies along, consequently move very slow, and which is of itself sufficient to prove their incapacity for seizing birds. These animals, when going to take wing, cannot, like birds, dart at once into the air, but are obliged to beat their wings several times to fill them, and to release their claws from what they have hold of, and even then the weight of their bodies frequently bears them to the ground; from this necessity of filling their wings they cannot take flight from any part of the tree, but are obliged to crawl to a part of the branch where they can act with perfect freedom. They are much alarmed at the firing of a gun, or at a peal ofthunder; and if a large flock of them, resting upon a tree, are surprised by either of these reports, in their haste to fly, numbers of them fall to the ground, not having sufficient air in their wings; in this case they hasten to climb up the first object they met with; let us therefore only suppose that object to be a traveller unacquainted with these animals; he would naturally be struck with terror at being suddenly surrounded with a number of creatures of such an ugly form and aspect, and especially when they began to climb up his body; he would of course endeavour to extricate himself from them, and they, in turn, finding themselves roughly treated, might begin to scratch and bite. Would not a circumstance of this nature be sufficient to give rise to the idea that these bats were ferocious animals, rushing upon men for the purpose of wounding and destroying them? when the whole would arise from the rencounter of different animals mutually afraid of each other. They are led to reside in forests by instinct, it being there only they can procure subsistence, and not from any savage disposition; besides this, neither of these bats ever light upon carrion, nor do they eat upon the ground, but generally in a hanging posture, and which appears to benecessary when they feed all of which is surely enough to prove they are neither carnivorous, voracious, nor cruel animals; and as their flight is both heavy and noisy, there cannot remain a doubt of their being a species very distant from the vampyre. The great Ternat bats have also been charged with feeding on fish, because they sometimes fly very near the water; but this is equally untrue, for it is certain that they live entirely on vegetables, and it is solely for the purpose of washing themselves that they go so near the water, being an exceedingly clean animal, for of the numbers I have killed I never found dirt upon any of them.
When near, the great Ternat bat is certainly rather disgustful, and all his motions are disagreeable, and it is only when perched on a tree that his natural deformity is concealed; he then hangs with his head downward, his wings are folded close to his sides, his vibrating wings, which are his greatest defects, as well as hind paws, by which he is suspended, are concealed, and there then appears only a round plump body, covered with a clean, smooth brown hair, terminated with a head rather agreeable than otherwise. This is the only attitude in which they take repose, they frequentlyremain in it the greatest part of the day, and in it they are seen to the greatest advantage, especially if they are at the height of 40 or 50 feet, and about 100 feet distant. The great Ternat bat is always placed for shew with his wings extended, by which means he is seen to the greatest disadvantage. The representation given of him in your work is not exact, as they never rest with their four feet on the ground. Both species are excellent food, and have never been known to produce any bad effects, although frequently eaten to excess; nor is that in the least surprising when we consider they feed entirely on ripe fruits, the juices, flowers, and according to Herodotus, “the exudations of trees.”
THE SENEGAL BAT.
THE Senegal Bat[AA](fig. 119) or as it is called by some, the Marmotte Volante, is of a dark brown colour upon its head and back,with a light mixture, which increasing under the belly, renders that considerably paler; the tail, as well as the membrane of the wings, are quite black. That which I saw and had been brought from Senegal, by M. Adanson, was not more than four inches in length, and his wings extended to about 21 inches; his head was long, ears short, and his nose rather pointed; he had 20 teeth in the whole, two incisive, two canine, and eight grinders in the upper jaw and six incisive and two canine in the under.
[AA]Of this and the two following Mr. Pennant’s Synopsis contains very accurate descriptions.
[AA]Of this and the two following Mr. Pennant’s Synopsis contains very accurate descriptions.
THE BULL-DOG BAT.