52 COMMON BERNICLi;. 



the best is bought for threepence. For the truth 

 hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to repair to 

 me, and I will satisfy them by the testimonies of 

 good witnesses." Thus far Gerard ! 



Again, Sir Robert Murray, in his account, inserted 

 in the Philosophical Transactions, says, that he found 

 an old fir tree on the coast of Scotland, covered with 

 Bernicle shells, and that in every shell that he opened 

 he found a perfect sea fowl ; the little bill, like that 

 of a Goose; the eyes marked; the head, neck, breast, 

 wings, tail, and feet, formed ; the feathers every 

 where perfectly shaped, and blackish coloured; and 

 the feet like those of other water fowl, to his best 

 remembrance ! ! 



Few subjects seem to have been more circum- 

 stantially related, or to rest on better evidence, than 

 the above ; so natural to man is credulity, which 

 passes all bounds, where the prodigy of an event 

 takes firm hold of the imagination, and lays the under- 

 standing asleep. Such are some of the wild chimeras 

 that have been detailed concerning the origin of these 

 birds, which ridiculous fables once enjoyed much cele- 

 brity, and were admitted by many authors ! Such is 

 the folly of mankind to give credence to every won- 

 derful tale such the dangerous contagion of error 

 and superstition ! Enough has been said on this 

 subject to show how contagious the errors of science 

 are, and how prone we are to become acquainted 

 with, and to believe, the fascinations of the marvel- 

 lous. The absurd notion of the annual submer- 

 sion, or torpidity, of Swallows and Martins, so tena- 



