Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/946

* VAMPIRE. 810 VAMPIRE. stition lias been cited in New England as late as the first half of the nineteenth century, while in 1870-71 there were several trials for vampir- ism in West Prussia, Pomerania, and Meck- lenburg. The belief in vampires is part of the wide- spread fear of malignant ghosts (see Ghosts), especially the Lamioe (q.v. ), fostered by the mediaeval l)elief of the Greek Catholic Church that all who died under ecclesiastical ban were kept alive by the devil for the ruin of their surviving friends. The belief is an ancient one, treated by Philostratus and Phlegon of Tralles, by (Tocthe in his liraiit van Koriiit]i,am in operas by Palma (1812), Hart (1820), ilarschner ('l828). and Von Lindpainter (1828). Consult: Hertz, Der Wcnrolf (Stuttgart. 1802) ; Ralston, Ifimsifin Folk-talcs (London, 1873). VAMPIRE. A Neotropical blood-sucking bat of the section Desmodontes of the family Pliyl- lostomida and especially of the genera Desmodus andDiphylla; specifically, De.s»(0(Z«* ri/f us. These SKULL OF A TRUE VAMPIBE. Showing estraurdinar.v form of piercing incisors in the upper jaw of Vesmodus rufus. bats are of small size, are tailless, and have nose-leafs, an organization modified in accord- ance with their habit of subsisting by sucking blood from the bodies of the larger mammals. including man, usuallj' while the victim is asleep. Tlie single pair of upper incisors are prolonged and sharpened into caniniform teeth, which will pierce the skin like lancets and are rooted in bones of unusual size and solidity. The canines are large, the premolars small, and the molars absent. The gullet is so small that nothing but liquid food can pass, and the stomach is intesti- form, while the intestinal canal is modified to suit a diet of blood. The blood of the victim is likely to continue to flow after the vampire de- parts. Repeated visits of the vampire may so weaken a horse, a cow or a human being, that death may follow. In some places and times it becomes dangerous to sleep exposed to the bat's attack, but the total of injury done is far less than is popularly believed. Desmodus inhabits forested regions from Central America to Chile. Another still smaller bloodsucker is the closely related Brazilian Diphi/Ua ecaudata, whose habit is to pare away the skin until the blood oozes through the shaved space. The family (Phyllostomida') is very large, and distinguished from other bats by the pres- ence of three bony joints in the middle finger of the hand (wing). They are greatly diverse in habits and fare. Some are exclusively insectiv- orous; the majority feed mainlj' or entirely on fruits; two species are exclusively blood-drink- ers; and one section, the javelin-bats (Pliylln- stoma), while probably subsisting mainly on fruit, sometimes also attack animals and men. In the uncertainty of information as to this group, the word 'vampire' has been widelj- and often mistakenly applied. It is commonly given, for example, to the great South American 'false vampire' (Vampyrus spectrum), which feeds wholly on truit. and is quite harmless. It measures 28 inches across the expanded wings, and is common about villages. For illustrations and bibliography, see Bat.