that he had one which he had domesticated. He says, that he was very susceptible of cold. "To me," he adds, "who constantly fed him, and bathed him twice a week in water, he was at all times grateful. He was pleased at being stroked on the head and throat, and often suffered me to touch his extremely sharp teeth. He slept all day rolled up like a hedge-hog. He awoke in the evening, and licked and dressed himself like a cat. When the sun was set, he was all vivacity. He ate fruit, drank milk eagerly, was very fond of grasshoppers, and passed the whole night, in the hot season, prowling for them. When a grasshopper, or any insect, alighted within his reach, his eyes, which he fixed on his prey, glowed with uncommon fire; and, having drawn himself back to spring on it with greater force, he seized the prey with both his fore paws, but held it in one, and devoured it. The posture of which he was most fond, was, to cling with his fore paws to the upper wires of the cage. In the evening he usually stood erect for many minutes, playing on the wires

with his fingers, and rapidly moving his body from side to side."

It must have been very amusing to have observed his manners.

Sir William thought so too; for he says, "A little before day-break, when my early hours gave me frequent opportunities of observing him, he seemed to solicit my attention; and if I presented my finger to him, he licked, or nibbled it, with great gentleness. When the day brought back his night, his eyes lost their lustre, and he fell into a slumber of ten or eleven hours."

Please to mention another animal of this tribe.

The ring-tailed macauco✶ is another; but unlike the one I have mentioned; for he is very brisk and active. The tail is twice as long as the body, and is adorned with black and white rings. It is a native of the woods in Madagascar, where they are often seen

*Lemur catta.

in troops of thirty or forty. But let us notice the last tribe in this order; they are the bats.

We have often talked about the common bat, father.

We have. It is a remarkable animal; it seems to be the link which unites the four-footed animals with the birds.

It flies like a bird, but it walks in a very bad hobbling way.

True; but still it does walk. Do you recollect the character of this tribe?

The teeth are erect, near each other, and pointed; the toes of the fore-feet are long, and connected with a leather-like membrane, which is used as wings. Are there not several varieties of them?

There are twenty-eight; four only of which are found in Great Britain. The short-eared bat* is the most common among us; and is but a small animal.

You know, sir, the one we caught some time since, was not more than two inches and a-half long; but from the tip of one wing, to that of the other, it measured nine inches. Will you tell me about them?

It sleeps all day, like the lemur, but awakes in the twilight of the evening, and glides along shady walks and the surface of streams in search of moths and insects, which are its food. The female makes no nest; but brings forth two young ones, which hang upon her breasts; this is the case often when she flies abroad; but sometimes she fixes them on a wall,

where they stay till the old one returns. It is a kind appointment of Providence that they sleep all the winter; because there are no flies, and they would, of course, die with hunger. It is remarkable, that when their eyes are closed, they will fly about the room without coming at all in contact with the wall or the window. I have read, that when a wainscot was taken down in a mansion in Wales, two hundred and eighty bats were found hanging to the wall. Many of the females had two young ones hanging to their teats; they were a small kind of bat, with little ears, and almost black. The young ones were quite naked, like callow birds. The long-eared bat* is not very common; though it is found in Great Britain, France, and Russia, and in some other parts of the world.

Is not the vampyre bat† the most dreadful?

It is; its wings are often so long, that a man cannot reach from the end of one, to that of the other.