CRUSTACEANS 



wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof 

 haue been cast thither by shipwracke, and also the trunks and bodies with 

 the branches of old and rotten trees, cast vp there likewise ; whereon is 

 found a certain spume or froth that in time breedeth vnto certain shells, in 

 shape like those of the Muskle, but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour ; 

 wherein is contained a thing in forme like a lace of silke finely wouen as it 

 were together, of a whitish colour, one end whereof is fastened vnto the 

 inside of the shell, even as the fish of Oisters and Muskles are : the other 

 end is made fast vnto the belly of a rude masse or lumpe, which in time 

 commeth to the shape and forme of a Bird : when it is perfectly formed the 

 shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the forsaid lace or 

 string ; next come the legs of the bird hanging out, and as it groweth greater 

 it openeth the shell by degrees, til it is all come forth, and hangeth onely by 

 the bill : in short space after it commeth to full maturitie, and falleth into 

 the sea, where it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a fowle bigger than a 

 Mallard, and lesser than a Goose, having black legs and bill or beake, and 

 feathers black and white spotted in such manner as is our Magpie called in 

 some places a Pie Anret, which the people of Lancashire call by no other 

 name than a tree Goose : which place aforesaid, and all those parts adjoyning 

 do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for three pence. 

 For the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to repaire vnto me, 

 and I shall satisfie them by the testimonie of good witnesses.' 



That there may be no mistake about the locality, Gerarde repeats that 

 ' The bordes and rotten planks whereon are found these shels breeding the 

 Barnakle, are taken up in a small Island adjoyning to Lancashire halfe a mile 

 from the main land, called the Pile of Foulders,' and in the pious conclusion 

 of his volume he speaks of this anseriferous tree as ' the wonder of England.' 

 His editor Johnson, between thirty and forty years later, will have nothing to 

 do with this happy meeting ground of botany and zoology, but scornfully 

 interpolates the remark that ' The Barnakle whose fabulous breed my Author 

 here sets down, and divers others have also deliuered, were found by some 

 Hollanders to have another originall, and that by egs as other birds have.' l 

 With this it is of interest to compare Dr. Leigh's later discussion of the 

 subject. He writes : ' These Counties afford us great variety of Birds, and 

 in some places even clog the Inhabitants with their Plenty. Amongst the 

 rest, the Barnac/e being very common, and the manner of its Generation 

 having been a Matter of Controversy, I shall recite my Observations upon it, 

 and endeavour to reconcile that Point. It is observable of our Ships which 

 trade to the West-Indies, that upon their return home, an infinite number of 

 small shell-fishes often adhere to them, at the first view not much unlike 

 young Geese ; these for several Ages have pass'd for Barnacles, not only 

 amongst the Vulgar, but Men of Learning likewise, wherefore to set things 

 in their true Light, I shall in the first place give the Anatomy of this Shell- 

 fish resembling the Barnacle, and afterwards that of the real bird, and then 

 lay down some reasons to show the Impossibility of their being bred after the 

 manner formerly receiv'd. This shell sticks to the outward Planks of Ships 

 by a glutinous Matter, it resembles the Head of a Goose, to which there is a 

 Neck annex'd, yet this Neck is not conserted to the Body, whence it is 



1 Gerarde, Herball, Johnson's edition, pp. 1587-1589 (1636). 

 I 177 2 3 



