140 SCIENCE FROM AN EASY CHAIR 



and raises its branches up in its growth, so that the 

 oysters are carried far up above the sea waves. Of 

 course they die under these conditions, but their position 

 suggests the explanation that the oysters have climbed 

 up the trees. Ship barnacles fix themselves, similarly, to 

 the twigs of willow trees in the quiet sea lochs of the 

 West of Scotland, and this led 500 years ago to the 

 belief that the catkins of the willow tree ripen into 

 barnacles. Since it was also held that the little animal 

 of the barnacle hatches out of its shell as a young goose 

 the so-called " barnacle goose " the marvellous story 

 was believed that these geese are actually budded from 

 willow trees. I believe that the supposed relationship of 

 the goose and the ship's barnacle arose solely from the 

 accidental similarity of the names of the two animals 

 the " bernack " goose and the sea " barnacle " being names 

 of independent origin. The names were different origin- 

 ally in sound and signification, but were corrupted by 

 fisher-folk into one and the same word. Hence a 

 fantastic fable took its growth. 



In Paris you may test and compare several local 

 varieties of the common oyster in a celebrated oyster- 

 shop. There are Courseilles, Cancales, Marennes, Ostend, 

 Zeeland, Arcachon, English natives, Cotes Rouges (red 

 banks), and Black Rocks. And you can eat sea-urchins 

 there, too, if you wish. They have not, however, got 

 the celebrated oysters from the Lake Fusaro, near 

 Naples. This was the ancient Acherusia palus, and in 

 the neighbouring Lake Avernus and the Lucrine lake 

 oysters were cultivated by the ancient Romans, the young 

 oysters being made to affix themselves at " the fall of the 

 spat " to wooden "stands" or frames, which were then 

 placed in the lake (a salt-water lake), where they had 

 abundant minute vegetable food and grew large and fat. 

 The same cultivation, with the same shape of " stands," 



