8 4 



LEISURE-TIME STUDIES. 



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, in- 

 deed, his research actually extended thus far the reproduc- 

 tion in miniature of a goose, with which, as a mature bird, 

 he was well acquainted. 



Annexed is a woodcut, copied from Minister's " Cosmo- 

 graphy" (1550), a very popular book in its time, showing, 



FIG. 7. Barnacle tree (from Minister's "Cosmography"). 



the tree with its fruit, and the geese which are supposed tO' 

 have just escaped from it. 



This historical ramble may fitly preface what we have to 

 say regarding 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 



