BATS. 31

which their commerce or their conquests made them ac-
quainted, should have caught eagerly at these marvellous
stories and descriptions, and rendered them subservient to
their fabulous but highly imaginative mythology, is not won-
derful ; and it is probable that some of the Indian bats, with
the strange combination of the character of beast and bird,
which they were believed to possess, gave to Virgil the
idea, which he has so poetically worked out, of the harpies
which fell on the tables of his hero and his companions,
and polluted, whilst they devoured, the feast from which
they had driven the affrighted guests.” But that the harm-
less little bats of our own climate, whose habits are so
innocent and amusing, should be connected in the mind
with anything mysterious or alarming, is rather incompre-
hensible.

The original word used in Isaiah, ch. ii. ver. 20, is atedt-
phim, which is supposed to mean “fliers in darkness,” a
very suitable name for bats, which only quit their retreats
when night comes on. They are mentioned also in the
books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy; and in the latter are
very correctly connected with “every creeping thing that
flieth.” Nothing can now be ascertained relative to the
species alluded to, and, indeed, in all probability, no defi-