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1880

Mag. of Nat. Hist (Charlesworth) vol IV 1840. New series

p. 90 T.C. Eyton Remarks on the skeleton of the common & tame goose & the Chinese goose.—

— young birds of different Habits face part record 8 young ones

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1 more sacral vertebra

sternum of common goose broader, longer & larger

2 tubercules knob at base of beak, as seen in skull length of neck, with the arched stripe deeper voice — & distortion & according to Dixon period of incubation

Wild in different regions

[Remarks on the Skeletons of the common tame Goose, the Chinese Goose, and the Hybrid between the two. By T. C. EYTON, Esq., F.L.S.

p. 90.

"THE circumstance of hybrids produced between the tame goose and the Chinese goose being again productive, was the inducement which led me to make the following examination of their respective skeletons, in order to ascertain the degree of similarity existing between them. Before however stating the results, it may perhaps be as well to mention the mode I followed in order render the hybrids productive, which was simply the placing together a male and female, of different hatches; though the birds were both young, they reared eight young ones.

p. 91.

The mode adopted by me in counting the vertebræ is the same as that mentioned in my Monograph on the Anatidæ,-- namely, to consider as cervical all the vertebra which are anterior to the ribs, and have no attachment to them; the dorsal are those anterior to the peloinal bones, having ribs attached to them; the sacral are those anchylosed together, and immediately succeeding the dorsal, to some of these are attached either true or false ribs.

The following table will show the numbering of the vertebral column, as far as I have been able to ascertain it, in the birds above mentioned, and also in a variety of the Chinese goose.

Tame goose... Chinese ditto ............ White variety of ditto ... Hybrid........

Cervical. 17 17 17

Dorsal. 6 6 6 6

Sacral. 16 2 17 2 16 3 16 2

Caudal. 6 6 6 6

The second number under the head of sacral vertebræ, denotes those to which ribs are attached; so that the total number in the tame goose for instance, is eighteen.

It will be seen from the foregoing table, that some difference exists in the numbers of the dorsal and sacral vertebræ of the Chinese goose, as given here and in the work above mentioned, which is caused by one being taken from the dorsal and added to the sacral. This change I have been induced to make, on the examination of a section of the pelvis; the skeleton referred to in the Monograph, is that now spoken of as the white variety. I greatly regret, that in consequence of some of the cervical vertebræ of the hybrid having been lost, I have been unable to give their number with certainty, but it is most probably seventeen, both the parent birds possessing that number. The caudal vertebræ of the Chinese goose were also damaged.

The sternum of the hybrid bird presents some curious features; but previously to referring to them, it will be necessary to point out the differences between that part in the common goose and the Chinese, which are as follows. The tame goose has the sternum broader and longer, with the keel deeper, and is altogether larger than that of the Chinese; it is also characterized by a wave or indentation1 in its plane, at about

1 This feature increases with age. I possess the sternum of a tame goose, above twenty years old when killed, which shows it much more distinctly than that of a young one. The fissures also on the posterior margin are closed up, and form foramina.

p. 92.

one third of its length from the posterior extremity, possessed only in a slight degree by the Chinese.

The knob situated between the junctions of the coracoid bones is also larger in the common goose than in the Chinese.

The sternum of the hybrid bird is as long as that of the tame goose, but not broader than that of the Chinese; it is consequently more elongated than either. The indentation or wave in its plane is about the same as that in the Chinese, as is also the size of the knob situated between the coracoids.

The bones of the pelvis in all three are very similar in form, but that of the tame goose is the largest and most massive. The hybrid differs from either of its parents, in having the notch situated on each side of the posterior margin of the ilium, merely represented by two slight indentations.

The cranium of the Chinese differs from that of the common goose, in having two tubercles at the base of the bill, that part being, on the contrary, depressed in the tame goose. The hybrid takes an intermediate form, being only slightly elevated.

The remaining bones do not differ in form in either of the three birds mentioned; in the tame goose, however, they are larger than in the Chinese, while those of the hybrid are intermediate between the two.

From the above brief notes the following deductions may be drawn. That the hybrid possesses characters nearly intermediate between its parents, but in one particular varies in form from either: and that the most material difference between the parents consists in size, and in the numbering of the sacral vertebræ; in the latter particular the hybrid agrees with the female parent.]