n. It has, however, some striking
anatomical affinities with the last Order, _Quadrumana_, sufficient
to justify its being placed in the next link of the great chain of
creation.

[Figure: Sternum of _Pteropus_.]

"Bats have the arms, fore-arms and fingers excessively elongated,
so as to form with the membrane that occupies their intervals, real
wings, the surface of which is equally or more extended than in those
of birds. Hence they fly high and with great rapidity."--_Cuvier_.
They suckle their young at the breast, but some of them have pubic
warts resembling mammae. The muscles of the chest are developed in
proportion, and the sternum has a medial ridge something like that
of a bird. They are all nocturnal, with small eyes (except in the
case of the frugivorous bats), large ears, and in some cases
membranous appendages to the nostrils, which may possibly be for the
purpose of guiding themselves in the dark, for it is proved by
experiment that bats are not dependent on eyesight for guidance, and
one naturalist has remarked that, in a certain species of bat which
has no facial membrane, this delicacy of perception was absent. I
have noticed this in one species, _Cynopterus marginatus_, one of
which flew into my room not long ago, and which repeatedly dashed
itself against a glass door in its efforts to escape. I had all the
other doors closed.

Bats are mostly insectivorous; a few are fruit-eaters, such as our
common flying-fox. They produce from one to two at a birth, which
are carried about by the mother and suckled at the breast, this
peculiarity being one of the anatomical details alluded to as
claiming for the bats so high a place.

Bats are divided into four sub-families--Pteropodidae, Vampyridae,
Noctilionidae, and Vespertilionidae.

MEGACHIROPTERA.

SUB-FAMILY PTEROPODIDAE.

_GENUS PTEROPUS_.

These are frugivorous bats of large size, differing, as remarked by
Jerdon, so much in their dentition from the insectivorous species
that they seem to lead through the flying Lemurs (_Colugos_) directly
to the _Quadrumana_. The dentition is more adapted to their diet;
they have cutting incisors to each jaw, and grinders with flat crowns,
and their intestines are longer than those of the insectivorous bats.
They produce but one at birth, and the young ones leave their parents
as soon as they can provide for themselves. The tongue is covered
with rough papillae. They have no tail. These bats and some of