Ancestry of the Goose 45 
for breeding, so that in course of time 
a white and tamer species was produced, 
which differed considerably from the 
gray wild goose and its direct descend- 
ants. In ancient as in modern Italy, 
the goose was not so commonly found 
on small farms as in the North, partly 
because the necessary water was scarce, 
and partly because of the damage she 
caused to young vegetation. But 
numerous flocks of this bird cackled in 
the huge goose-pens (chenobosca) of 
breeders and proprietors of villas; there 
the enormous liver that made the mouth 
of the gourmand water was produced 
by forced fattening—an artificial disease 
which was poor thanks for their saving 
the Capitol. The use of goose feathers 
for stuffing beds or cushions was foreign 
to early antiquity; the later Romans 
first learned the practice from the Celts 
and Germans. In Pliny’s time whole 
flocks of geese were driven from Bel- 
gium to Italy, particularly from the 
land of the Morini, who inhabited the 
Belgian coasts; the delicate white 
feathers which came from that country 
were celebrated. . . . Pillows stuffed 
with goose feathers were an innovation at 
which true Romans shook their heads: 
We have now arrived at such a pitch 
of effeminacy, adds Pliny, that even 
men cannot lie down to rest without 
such an apparatus. Even to the present 
day, feather-beds are more character- 
istic of the North, being unsuitable to 
the warm South. The ancients were 
also unacquainted with another use 
of the goose-feather, that of an instru- 
ment for writing. The first quill-pens 
were used at the commencement of 
the Middle Ages, in the time of the 
Ostrogoth Theodoric.’”* 
CHANGES IN CAPTIVITY 
The anatomical differences between 
the wild species and the modern domesti- 
cated breeds are not great. The walk 
has become a little more of a waddle, 
the ability to fly is lessened, the rump 1s 
deeper. The color pattern of the most 
widely known breed, the Toulouse, is 
very similar to that of the gray lag, but 
simpler. In general, the changes are 
those which would naturally be pro- 
duced by selection of specimens which 
possessed the best marketable form. 
The American Standard of Perfection 
recognizes the following breeds of geese: 
Toulouse (gray), Embden (white), 
African. (gray), Chinese (both brown 
and white varieties), Wild or Canadian 
(gray) and Egyptian (colored). 
Of these, the Toulouse seems to have 
been produced in France, which has 
long been celebrated for its geese, and 
the paté de foie gras produced from their 
livers. It owes its name to the city of 
Toulouse. 
North German breeders, particularly 
in and around Westphalia, produced the 
Embden breed, by selecting white 
“sports’”’ and breeding from them. 
The African breed is of somewhat 
uncertain history. Though little dif- 
ferent in appearance from the gray lag, 
it is said to be a hybrid between the 
Chinese goose, the Toulouse breed, and 
sometimes the Embden. The three 
preceding breeds comprise the heavy- 
weight or market varieties, weighing from 
17 to 25 pounds when properly fattened. 
The Egyptian breed comes from an 
entirely different species (Chenalopex 
aegyptiacus), which has been of much 
importance to the domestic economy of 
that country ever since the beginning 
of history. It is gay in color as com- 
pared with the sober descendants of the 
gray lag. 
The Wild or Canadian goose is the 
domesticated Brant (Branta canadensis) 
well-known to most North Americans. 
It is easily tamed, but has little com- 
mercial importance as a domesticated 
breed. 
The Chinese goose is still another 
species (Cygnopsis cygnoides), an orna- 
mental fowl which lays well and fur- 
nishes a good quality of meat. It 
weighs from 10 to 14 pounds, and 1s 
therefore the largest of all wild geese. 
Although not so well known in the 
United States as the European breeds, 
it is yearly becoming more popular and 
deserves to be widely kept. 
All these species can be interbred 
freely in captivity. 
5’ The two preceding paragraphs are from Victor Hehn, The Wanderings of Plants and Animals 
from their first Home; ed. by J. S. Stallybrass, London, 1888. 
