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 hordes 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.' ^ 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 Barnacle 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 23
