1830

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

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ssaas

from a log of wood washed on shore near Liverpool, in November, 1830, showsthe manner in which the shells are found attached to the pieces of wood. Inthe Amulet for 1830 is a very interesting paper by Dr. Walsh, in which hespeaks of the goose, which wasanciently supposed to be pro-duced from the Lepas anatifera.

“ This bird, which is commonlycalled the barnacle goose (,4'nserBernicla Willd.), is found in greatabundance on the coast of Ire-land, and particularly in the Bayof Bannow. It feeds on the tu-berous roots of an aquatic grass,which is full of saccharine juice;and from this food, instead ofthe rank taste of other sea-fowlwhich feed partly on fish, thebird has a delicate flavour. Thestrange story of its springingfrom the shell of the Lepas wasfirst broached by Giraldus Cam-brensis, who accompanied theearly invaders to Ireland; andwho, finding abundance of thesedelicate-tasted geese on the coast,and also seeing abundance ofshells, attached at one end bya fleshy membrane to a log ofwood, and having at the other afibrous beard, like the feathers of a fowl, curling round the shell, fancied therest of the story, which was readily believed from that natural appetite forthe monstrous which prevails wherever the great mass of people are in a stateof ignorance.” Before the Reformation,

Dr. Walsh tells us, the fishy origin ofthis bird was so firmly believed, that thequestion was warmly and learnedly dis-puted as to whether it might not beeaten in Lent.

Parasites and Epiphytes. The enume-.ration of the parasitic and other plantswhich live on the common oak, andwhich cease to exist when the treeceases to live, would form, says M. Mar-quis (Essai sur les Harmonies Vegetaleset Animales du Chene ), “a long cata-logue.” Besides these, there are manywhich grow on the ground near the tree,and which are nourished by its decay-ing leaves. Among the plants which arefound on the trunk and branches of thecommon oak, are various fungi, and nu-merous lichens, which cover the trunkwith green, brown, white, or yellowishspots, till it often happens that, at alittle distance, it resembles marble. Va-rious kinds of ferns also grow upon thebase of the trunk; and mosses, andother terrestrial plants, grow in the de-caying bark.

The terrestrial plants, which are found rooted into the decaying bark of old

1655