Vampire's Saliva

Dr. Raymond Lee Ditmars, famed herpetologist of the New York Zoological Park ("Bronx Zoo"), has discovered that vampire bats from the American tropics do not, as commonly supposed, suck blood from the animals on which they feed. They lap it up, the tongue darting in & out of the wound four times a second. When Dr. Ditmars brought back four vampires from Trinidad, it seemed a good chance for scientists to check another theory--that the bat's saliva contains some substance which prevents blood from coagulating and so keeps the nutrient liquid flowing freely.

The Ditmars bats were allowed to feed on experimental animals by zoologists who measured the clotting time of blood mixed with vampire saliva against that of other blood. They found no difference in c'otting time or coagulating substance, according to a Science Service report last week. To keep the blood flowing, the bat appears to massage the wound with its tongue.

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