SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS OF ZOOLOGY. 103 



stalk of the barnacle. The neck is described as being composed " of 

 a kind of filmy substance, round, and hollow, and creassed, not unlike 

 the Wind-pipe of a Chicken ; spreading out broadest where it is fast- 

 ened to the Tree, from which it seems to draw and convey the mat- 

 ter which serves for the growth and vegetation of the Shell and the 

 little Bird within it." Sir Robert Moray therefore agrees, in respect 

 of the manner of nourishment of the barnacles, with the opinion of 

 Giraldus already quoted. The author goes on to describe the " Bird " 

 found in every shell he opened ; remarking that " there appeared no- 

 thing wanting as to the internal parts, for making up a perfect Sea- 

 fowl : every little part appearing so distinctly, that the whole looked 

 like a large Bird seen through a concave or diminishing Glass, colour 

 and feature being everywhere so clear and neat." The " Bird " is 

 most minutely described as to its bill, eyes, head, neck, breast, wings, 

 tail, and feet, the feathers being " everywhere perfectly shaped, and 

 blackish-coloured. All being dead and dry," says Sir Robert, " I did 

 not look after the Internal parts of them," a statement decidedly incon- 

 sistent with his previous assertion as to the perfect condition of the 

 " internal parts " ; and he takes care to add, " Nor did I ever see any of 

 the little Birds alive, nor met with anybody that did. Only some cred- 

 ible persons," he concludes, "have assured me they have seen some as 

 big as their fist." 



This last writer thus avers that he saw little birds within the shells 

 he clearly enough describes as those of the barnacles. We must either 

 credit Sir Robert with describing what he never saw, or with miscon- 

 struing what he did see. His description of the goose corresponds 

 with that of the barnacle-goose, the reputed progeny of the shells ; 

 and it would, therefore, seem that this author, with the myth at hand, 

 saw the barnacles only with the eyes of a credulous observer, and thus 

 beheld, in the inside of each shell if, indeed, his research actually 

 extended thus far the reproduction in miniature of a goose, with 

 which, as a mature bird, he was well acquainted. 



This historical ramble may fitly preface what we have to say re- 

 garding the probable origin of the myth. By what means could the 

 barnacles become credited with the power of producing the well-known 

 geese ? Once started, the progress and growth of the myth are easily 

 accounted for. The mere transmission of a fable from one generation 

 or century to another is a simply explained circumstance, and one ex- 

 emplified by the practices of our own times. The process of accretion 

 and addition is also well illustrated in the perpetuation of fables ; 

 since the tale is certain to lose nothing in its historical journey, but, 

 on the contrary, to receive additional elaboration with increasing age. 

 Professor Max Mtiller, after discussing various theories of the origin 

 of the barnacle-myth, declares in favor of the idea that confusion of lan- 

 guage and alterations of names lie at the root of the error. The learned 

 author of the " Science of Language " argues that the true barnacles 



