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liberty, or perched in a red jacket on the top of a barrel-organ, the monkey must always be a peculiar subject of interest to those who take a pleasure in the study of Natural History.

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The circling bat sails by on silent wing,
The downy moth pursues his dusky flight,
Light-crested gnats their busy carols sing,

And wandering glow-worms shed their emerald light.

ANON.

THE BAT.

Vespertilio.

THE bat seems to occupy a singular place in the creation; for though it bears a strong resemblance to a quadruped, a great part of its life is spent in the air like a bird, where it supports itself by the aid of soft velvet, or leatherlike wings. The fore arms of this creature are very long and the fingers still longer, exceeding indeed the length of the arm. Over these, the skin of the body is extended in the form of an extremely thin and delicate membrane, capable of being contracted into a very small space when the animal is at rest, and to be stretched somewhat like a fan to a very wide extent for occasional flight, constituting wings, as large and efficient as those of many birds.

These curious wings are furnished at the point

with a short thumb, armed with a hooked nail or claw, which serves the bat to hang by, when it wishes to repose, or to climb with, against the sides of caverns and other places. The hind feet are not so strong as the front, and are divided into five equal toes, all furnished with nails. The eyes are small but bright, the ears generally very large; these, together with the wings, form a vast membranous surface almost naked, and of exquisite sensibility. The wing of the bat is perhaps the most acute organ of touch that can be found. Spallanzani, a philosopher, as noted for his cruelty as for his ingenuity and love of research, put out the eyes of a bat, and observed that it appeared to fly with as much ease as before, and without striking against any objects in its way, avoiding the most delicate silken threads, which were stretched in such a manner as but to leave space enough for it to pass with expanded wings. Even with the ears and nostrils stopped, the bat still flew with the same certainty, so that Spallanzani at length concluded that "the bat must possess a sixth sense." Cuvier, however, decided that it is

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