From "The Ornithology of Francis Willughby" (by Willughby and Ray), 
1678, concerning the "Bernacle":

"What is reported concerning the rise and original of these birds, to 
wit, that they are bred of rotten wood, for instance, of the Masts, 
Ribs, and Planks of broken Ships half putrified and corrupted, or of 
certain Palms of trees falling into the Sea, or lastly, of a kind of 
Sea-shels, the figures whereof [various writers] have set forth, may be 
seen in [various books]. But that all these stories are false and 
fabulous I am confidently perswaded. Neither do there want sufficient 
arguments to induce the lovers of truth to be of our opinion, and to 
convince the gainsayers. For in the whole Genus of Birds (excepting the 
Phoenix whose reputed original is without doubt fabulous) there is not 
any one example of equivocal or spontaneous generation. ... Secondly, 
those shells in which they affirm these Birds to be bred, and to come 
forth by a strange metamorphosis, do most certainly contain an Animal of 
their own kind, and not transmutable into any other thing... Thirdly, 
that these Geese do lay Eggs after the manner of other Birds, sit on 
them, and hatch their Young, the Hollanders in their Northern Voyages 
affirm themselves to have found by experience."

(All spelling as in the original.)

Janet Millenson
Potomac, MD (Montgomery County)

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"Look at the birds!" -- Pascal the parrot


On 1/17/2012 4:37 PM, Bill Hubick wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> An e-mail discussion with a local Chestertown homeowner led to my re-finding this gem about the origins of Barnacle Geese and Goose Barnacles:
>
> On Goose Barnacles:
>
> "In the days before it was realised that birds migrate, it was thought that Barnacle Geese, Branta leucopsis, developed from this crustacean, since they were never seen to nest in temperate Europe, hence the English names "goose barnacle", "barnacle goose" and the scientific name Lepas anserifera (Latin anser = 'goose'). The confusion was prompted by the similarities in color and shape. Because they were often found on driftwood, it was assumed that the barnacles were attached to branches before they fell in the water. The Welsh monk, Giraldus Cambrensis, made this claim in his Topographia Hiberniae. Since barnacle geese were thought to be 'neither flesh, nor born of flesh', they were allowed to be eaten on days when eating meat was forbidden by religion." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_barnacle)
>
> Beautiful.
>
> Bill
>
> Bill Hubick
> Pasadena, Maryland
> 
> http://www.billhubick.com
>
>

-- 
Janet Millenson

301-983-9337

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