Rousette BatRousette Bat.Bats.Batsare of various sizes and many kinds. In this country there are various species, but none of them very large. They are generally innocent creatures, living in dark caverns and hidden places during the day, and sallying forth to feast upon insects by night. The little bats that we see flying about of a summer evening, are very amusing creatures in one respect; if you throw anything up near them, they will dive at it immediately,—no doubt supposing it to be something to eat. A boy may throw up his cap, and the bat flies at it instantly, as if he would make a supper of it.But in other parts of the world, especially in hot countries, some of the bats are very large. The rousette bat is found in the great island of Madagascar, near the southeast shore of Africa. Its wings are sometimes two feet from tip to tip. But the most frightful kind of bat is the vampire, which is found in Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America. The length of its body is about six inches, and the extent of its outstretched wings two feet.This creature sucks the blood from men and cattle, while they are fast asleep, even sometimes till they die; and as the manner in which they proceed is truly wonderful, I shall endeavor to give a distinct account of it. Knowing by instinct that the person they intend to attack is in a sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet, and, while the creature continues fanning with his enormous wings, which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe, so very small indeed, that the head of a pin could scarcely be received into the wound, which is consequently not painful, yet, through this orifice, he sucks a great quantity of blood. Cattle they generally bite in the ear, but always in places where the blood flows spontaneously.“Some years ago,” says Mr. Waterton, in his Wanderings in South America, “I went to the river Panmaron with a Scotch gentleman, by the name of Turbet. We hung our hammocks in the thatched loft of a planter’s house. Next morning, I heard this gentleman muttering in his hammock, and now and then letting fall an exclamation or two. ‘What is the matter, sir?’ said I; ‘is there anything amiss?’ ‘What’s the matter?’ said he, surlily, ‘why, the vampires have been sucking me to death.’ As soon as there was light enough, I went to his hammock, and saw it much stained with blood. ‘There,’ said he, thrusting his foot out of the hammock, ‘see how these imps have been drawing my life’s blood.’“On examining his foot, I found that the vampire had tapped his great toe. There was a wound somewhat less than that made by a leech. The blood was still oozing from it. I conjectured that he might have lost from ten to twelve ounces of blood. While examining it, I think I put him into a worse humor, by remarking that an European surgeon would not have been so generous as to have bled him without making a charge. He looked up in my face, but did not say a word. I saw he was of the opinion that I had better have spared this ill-timed piece of levity.”Yankee Wit.—A “notion seller” was offering Yankee clocks, finely varnished and colored, with a looking-glass in front, to a lady not remarkable for personal beauty. “Why, it’s beautiful!” said the vender. “Beautiful, indeed! why, a look at it almost frightens me!” said the lady. “Then, marm,” replied Jonathan, “I guess you’d better buy one that ha’n’t got no looking-glass.”A musician, in giving notice of an intended concert at Cleveland, Ohio, says: “A variety of other songs may be expected, too tedious to mention.”
Rousette BatRousette Bat.
Rousette Bat.
Batsare of various sizes and many kinds. In this country there are various species, but none of them very large. They are generally innocent creatures, living in dark caverns and hidden places during the day, and sallying forth to feast upon insects by night. The little bats that we see flying about of a summer evening, are very amusing creatures in one respect; if you throw anything up near them, they will dive at it immediately,—no doubt supposing it to be something to eat. A boy may throw up his cap, and the bat flies at it instantly, as if he would make a supper of it.
But in other parts of the world, especially in hot countries, some of the bats are very large. The rousette bat is found in the great island of Madagascar, near the southeast shore of Africa. Its wings are sometimes two feet from tip to tip. But the most frightful kind of bat is the vampire, which is found in Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America. The length of its body is about six inches, and the extent of its outstretched wings two feet.
This creature sucks the blood from men and cattle, while they are fast asleep, even sometimes till they die; and as the manner in which they proceed is truly wonderful, I shall endeavor to give a distinct account of it. Knowing by instinct that the person they intend to attack is in a sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet, and, while the creature continues fanning with his enormous wings, which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe, so very small indeed, that the head of a pin could scarcely be received into the wound, which is consequently not painful, yet, through this orifice, he sucks a great quantity of blood. Cattle they generally bite in the ear, but always in places where the blood flows spontaneously.
“Some years ago,” says Mr. Waterton, in his Wanderings in South America, “I went to the river Panmaron with a Scotch gentleman, by the name of Turbet. We hung our hammocks in the thatched loft of a planter’s house. Next morning, I heard this gentleman muttering in his hammock, and now and then letting fall an exclamation or two. ‘What is the matter, sir?’ said I; ‘is there anything amiss?’ ‘What’s the matter?’ said he, surlily, ‘why, the vampires have been sucking me to death.’ As soon as there was light enough, I went to his hammock, and saw it much stained with blood. ‘There,’ said he, thrusting his foot out of the hammock, ‘see how these imps have been drawing my life’s blood.’
“On examining his foot, I found that the vampire had tapped his great toe. There was a wound somewhat less than that made by a leech. The blood was still oozing from it. I conjectured that he might have lost from ten to twelve ounces of blood. While examining it, I think I put him into a worse humor, by remarking that an European surgeon would not have been so generous as to have bled him without making a charge. He looked up in my face, but did not say a word. I saw he was of the opinion that I had better have spared this ill-timed piece of levity.”
Yankee Wit.—A “notion seller” was offering Yankee clocks, finely varnished and colored, with a looking-glass in front, to a lady not remarkable for personal beauty. “Why, it’s beautiful!” said the vender. “Beautiful, indeed! why, a look at it almost frightens me!” said the lady. “Then, marm,” replied Jonathan, “I guess you’d better buy one that ha’n’t got no looking-glass.”
A musician, in giving notice of an intended concert at Cleveland, Ohio, says: “A variety of other songs may be expected, too tedious to mention.”