CIIEIROPTERA (vie, is hand, Trtpor, • wing), the name of a natural family or division of Mammiferous Animals; the lInts or Flitter-Mice of the English ; Fledermituser of the Germans; reaper :Wows of the Latins; Pipistrelli and Nottoli of the Italians ; Chance souris of the French.
The animals belonging to this wing-handed family embrace those which come under the genus resperfilio of Linnteue. They all have the faculty of sustained flight, and their organisation and habits point them out as a separate and well-defined group, distinguished by a folding extension of the membranous skin, which, rising from the sides of the neck, is spread between their fore feet and their fingers.
Organisation.—Skeleton.—The skull is thin, and there is a marked difference between that of the so-called Frugivorous group (Pteropus and Cephalutes) and the true or Insectivorous Bata, the former being much more elongated than the latter. The bony tentorium, so strongly developed in the majority of the Carnivore, ie entirely absent ; but there is a considerable development of the auditory portion of the temporal bone. The occipital hone is remarkably narrow. The superior maxillary is very much elongated, particularly in the so called Frugivorous order, a term which *e would change for Omnivorous, for their well-developed sharp canines, and the structure of some of their other teeth, would seem to be more trenchant than fruit-eating habits alone would require ; and indeed envier, in the last edition of the ' It gne Animal,' says of the genus Pfrropus, live prin cipally on fruit, of which they destroy a great deal; but they know, nevertheless, how to pursue birds and small quadrupeds ;" and we think it highly probable that they occasionally prey on the large insects which are found in the climates they inhabit All the family have four great canine teeth, but there is considerable difference between the molars of the fruit-eating section and of that whore) diet is confined entirely to insects, the crowns of the former being com paratively blunt, and hollowed out or grooved lengthwise, while those of the latter are shorter and sharper, and beset with points. The molars vary iu number in the different genera, the smallest develop anent being three in each jaw, and the largest five above and six below, or vice versA. The incisors set in the small and short inter maxillary bones vary also in the different genera. The amalleat number in the upper jaw is two, and the largest four ; the smallest number is also two in the lower jaw, and the largest six.
The atlas is of considerable size, but the dentate is not large. The greatest number of the demi verte bra) is twelve, the smallest eleven.
The canal for the spinal cord is large in these verte bra'. The lumbar vertebra, vary in number; the small est number is four, the largest seven. The omen coccygis are slender and elongated : their use BMUS only to be to assist (some what like a sprout) in spreading the interfemaral por the' of the mem branes, by the, aid of which the ani mal exile In the air ; their smallest number is six, and their largest twelve ; for in the majority the tail . .
extends to the margin of the membrane, while hi sonic, it protrudes beyond it, and in others it does nut reach more than half way. In Piet-opus there is no trace of theme bones.
The ribs are remarkably hang, except the first pair, which is very short, and remarkably broad, especially in the cartilage, which is ossified ; • and the sternum is highly developed, as !Ilya be expected from the exigencies of the animal. The anterior portion is ex 'luded
laterally Into what is termed the manubritun, which seems to be largest In the llorKe-Shoe Bat (RAinolorhus), forming is suitable point of attachment for the strong long arched clavicles, which are nrticii !atoll both to the sternum and scapula ; the latter is very large and elongated, and the lower surface is very concave. The fteinte for the strong muscles, both above and below the spine of this bone, mire deeply marked. The habits of the animal required an mph' development of these parts to give the shoulder the required solidity for working the mechanism of the wing, and we accordingly find the strength thrown into the sternum, clavicles, and scapula. 'hut these same habits would have rendered the rotatory motion of the fore-arm wpm than useless, for such a disposition would him weakened the power of the limb in beating the air with the extended membrane. We accordingly find that this power is absent : the tibia, indeed, is remarkably small, and in some the bone is merely rudimentary, forming a mere flat process, only partially separated from the radius ; there is tin ulceration (elbow). The humerus is long, slender, and cylindrical, and the head of the bone largo and round. The structure of the wrist is peculiar : first come two bones next to the radius, and on these that bone rests; one of these is very large, nod the other very small—the second series consists of the usual four bones ; but it is in the bones of the metacarpus and of the fingers that the adaptation of tho osseous parts of the animal to its necessities is, perhaps, most strongly shown. These, with the exception of the phalanges of the thumb, are greatly elongated, and run outwards and downwards to the edge of the wing-membrane, something after the fashion of the whalebones that twist in spreading an umbrella. The first finger is the shortest, and extends to the upper angle of the outer edge of the membrane; the second is generally the longest, and the third and fourth nearly of a length ; the last three descend to the lower edge of the membrane. The pelvis is straight aid lengthened, and rather wider below than it to above, the ilia being very narrow and elongated. The ossa ischii approneh even to the contact of their tubemeitles, and in some examples touch the ossa coecygis. The _este% pubis, in some recede from each other, the intermediate space being filled by a ligament; and in others theft bones touch each other in the male, and are separated in the female. The sacrum and ilia are anchylosed early in life. The lower extremities do not offer any very striking differences from those of other miumnifers, excepting that the thighs being directed outwards, the bones of the leg are turned round as it were (the fibula appearing at the inner side of the tibia, and a little poriterier to that and that there is a singularity about the heel. An elongated delicate bony process is given off from the back part of the foot, is inclosed in the margin of the interfemoral membrane, and procetele about halfway to the tail. Cuvier thought this a por tion of the cm enleht; Daubcnton, that it was a dis tinct ]acne; and 3leekel, that it is only a develop ment of the tubero sity of the bone, disunited from its body.