DUCK'S FLESH VARIETIES. 103 



arrived ; yet not one of them seems a moment at 

 rest. Now they pursue each other : now rise up 

 screaming, in a body, then down again : the whole 

 appearing one strange scene of bustle, conducted 

 with the utmost regularity, and after all with nothing 

 at all to do. 



It is a curious illustration of the de gustibus non 

 est disputandum, that the ancients considered the 

 swan as a high delicacy, and abstained from the 

 flesh of the goose as impure and indigestible ; whilst 

 the moderns reject the flesh of the swan, and eat 

 that of the goose with an universal relish. But upon 

 the excellence of the duck both parties seem to 

 have agreed, as upon some self-evident, and thence 

 incontrovertible proposition. The ancients went even 

 beyond our greatest modern epicures, in their high 

 esteem for the flesh of the duck, not only assign- 

 ing thereto the most exquisite flavour and deli- 

 cacy, but also attributing to it important medicinal 

 properties ; for Plutarch asserts that Cato preserved 

 his whole household in health, by dieting them with 

 ducks' flesh as a prophylactic; surely a most plea- 

 sant mode of taking physic ! Several of the Roman 

 medical writers, moreover, strongly recommend the 

 same regimen as the most powerful means of excit- 

 ing the prolific virtue in the sexes. 



The opinion of a modern author respecting co- 

 lour is, perhaps, most correct as it regards the 

 goose ; it is, however, pretty generally to be de- 

 pended on: he says when one has seen a wild 

 goose, a description of its plumage will, to a feather, 

 exactly correspond with that of any other. But in 

 F 4 



