GEESE. 1 75 



attachment to the human race, Pliny, an ancient 

 Homan writer, gives several instances; one only we 

 select, as closely resemhling that with which we 

 shall conclude. A person named Lacydes, a philo- 

 pher, had a goose which took so strong a fancy to 

 him, that it would never willingly leave him by 

 night or day, wherever he went, the Goose was 

 his companion; if he went abroad and walked 

 in the public streets, the bird followed him, and in 

 his own house, always forced itself into his presence. 

 The philosopher, struck with this constant and 

 strange attachment, seems to have considered it as 

 in some way or other connected with religious feel- 

 ings, and, accordingly, when at last it died, he was 

 at the expense of bestowing upon it a magnificent 

 funeral. 



Our next instance occurred in Scotland; a Goose, 

 a year old, formed a similar attachment to a person 

 in Elgin, and would follow him any distance, even 

 through the crowd and bustle of the main street. 

 One day, when going down this street, its master 

 went into a hair-dresser's shop to be shaved, where- 

 upon, the bird waited patiently till the operation 

 was finished, and then accompanied him to the house 

 of a friend, after which it proceeded home with him. 

 Change of dress seemed to make no difference in the 

 bird's powers of distinguishing its master, for in 

 whatever dress he appeared, the Goose recognised 

 him, and whenever he spoke, it responded by a cry 

 expressive of satisfaction. 



Another similar case is on record in Germany: 

 an aged blind woman, who probably might have 

 been in the habit of feeding it, used to be led every 



