206 History of Nature. [BooK X. 



Sparks of Wisdom. For Lacydts the Philosopher is said to 

 have had one of them attached to him as a constant Com- 

 panion, which would never leave him Night or Day, neither 

 in the open Street, nor at the Baths. But our Countrymen 

 are wiser, who know how to make a Dainty of their Liver. 1 

 In those Geese that are crammed (the Liver) groweth ex- 

 ceedingly great; and when it is taken out it plumps up if it 

 is steeped in Milk and Mead. With good Cause, therefore, it 

 is in Controversy who first invented so great a Good : whe- 

 ther it was Scipio Metellus, a consular Man, or M. Sestius, 

 who in the same Age was a Roman Knight. Buc it is certain 

 that Messalinus Cotta, Son of Messala the Orator, found out 

 to broil the broad Feet of Geese, and with Cocks' Combs to 

 compose a Dish of Meat : for I will truly give every Man 

 his Due for the Praise of his Cookery. It is a wonderful 

 Thing of these Birds, that they should walk all the Way 

 from Morini to Rome. Those that were weary were brought 

 forward to the Forewent ; and so the rest, by crowding toge- 

 ther as they naturally do, drive these tired ones before them. 

 A second Revenue of such Geese as are white is their Down. 

 In some Places they are plucked twice a Year : and they are 

 clothed with Feathers again, and the nearer to the Flesh so 

 much the softer. But that which is brought out of Germany 

 is most esteemed. The Geese there are white, but of less 

 size ; and they are called Ganzse. 2 The Cost of these Fea- 

 thers is at five Denarii 3 a Pound ; and hence it is that so 

 many Charges are made against the Prefects of the auxiliary 

 Soldiers, that they send whole Cohorts from the Guard 



1 Martial says, they caused the liver to grow to be as large as the 

 goose : 



" Adspice quara turneat magno jecur ansere majus ! " 



Palladius says, that for this purpose they were fed on pounded figs soaked 

 in water, and rolled into pellets : and that this treatment began when 

 they were thirty days old. They were also exposed to intense heat. 

 Wern. Club. 



2 Some copies read Gantse ; a word this, perhaps, the origin of our 

 word Gander. Wern. Club. 



3 3 shil. Id. ob. 



