The Domestic Goose

Abstract

When, Where and How the Wild Goose was first domesticated are questions which offer a wide field for speculation, and an interesting subject, should the opportunity occur, for archaeological research, Our present tame geese differ, generally speaking, in so small a degree from their wild congeners that we hardly need Darwin’s authority to assure us that they are all descended from the Grey-Lag goose Answ anser (Linnaeus). The very small change they have suffered under domestication, which is rarely more than an increase in size, a diminution in the warmth and intensity of their coloration, and a tendency, partial or complete, towards albinism, would suggest that the domestication of the goose took place at a comparatively recent date. The most cursory examination of the available evidence shows this opinion to be untenable. For example it is probable that, when in 390 B.C. the tame geese in the Roman Capitol saved a critical situation by being more wakeful than the men on guard, their establishment there was already an ancient institution and that they either possessed then, or else acquired by this salutary action of theirs, a semi-sacred character. Contrary to expectation the Romans attributed a particular sanctity to those geese which were white.