1830 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
from a log of wood washed on shore near Liverpool, in November, 1830, shows 
the manner in which the shells are found attached to the pieces of wood. In 
the Amulet for 1830 is a very interesting paper by Dr. Walsh, in which he 
speaks of the goose, which was am 
anciently supposed to be pro- 1654 
duced from the Lépas anatifera. 
“ This bird, which is commonly 
called the barnacle goose (.4’nser 
Bérnicla Willd.), is found in great 
abundance on the coast of Ire- 
land, and particularly in the Bay 
of Bannow. It feeds on the tu- 
berous roots of an aquatic grass, 
which is full of saccharine juice ; 
and from this food, instead of 
the rank taste of other sea-fowl 
which feed partly on fish, the 
bird has a delicate flavour. The 
‘strange story of its springing (Rees 
from the shell of the Lépas was Ny CONE 
2) AN 
first broached by Giraldus Cam- ES 
brensis, who accompanied the — 
early invaders to Ireland; and 
who, finding abundance of these 
delicate-tasted geese on the coast, . 
and also seeing abundance of = 
shells, attached at one end by 
a fleshy membrane to a log of 
wood, and having at the other a 
fibrous beard, like the feathers of a fowl, curling round the shell, fancied the 
rest of the story, which was readily believed from that natural appetite for 
the monstrous which prevails wherever the great mass of people are in a state 
of ignorance.” Before the Reformation, 
Dr. Walsh tells us, the fishy origin of 
this bird was so firmly believed, that the 
question was warmly and learnedly dis- 
puted as to whether it might not be 
eaten in Lent. 
Parasites and Epiphytes. The enume- 
ration of the parasitic and other plants 
which live on the common oak, and 
which cease to exist when the tree 
ceases to live, would form, says M. Mar- 
quis (Essai sur les Harmonies Végétales 
et Animales du Chéne), “a long cata- & 
logue.” Besides these, there are many 
which grow on the ground near the tree, 
and which are nourished by its decay- 
ing leaves. Among the plants which are 
found on the trunk and branches of the 
common oak, are various fungi, and nu- 
merous lichens, which cover the trunk 
with green, brown, white, or yellowish 
spots, till it often happens that, at a 
little distance, it resembles marble. Va- 
rious kinds of ferns also grow upon the 
base of the trunk; and mosses, and 
other terrestrial plants, grow in the de- 
caying bark. ; 
The terrestrial plants, which are found rooted into the decaying bark of old 
SS > i | f 
ie 
a 
