Some eastern nations were impressed with such deep veneration for this bird that they swore by nothing else.[XVII-56] The Britons honoured it, and forbad all persons to do it the least harm.[XVII-57] It remained for Queen Elizabeth to prove, at her joyous dinners of the 29th September, that tastes and usages are modified by time.[XVII-58] And moreover, many centuries before, her ancestors had been greatly wanting in respect towards a particular kind of goose, which they roasted without any ceremony.[XVII-59] A well-deserved sentiment of gratitude rendered them dear to the Romans: their noisy clamour had formerly saved the Capitol.[XVII-60] They became for them, as for the Egyptians,[XVII-61] a symbol of safety, and were reared, both in town and country, to guard the houses.[XVII-62] Those which were kept, out of gratitude, in the Capitol, were consecrated to Juno, Isis, Mars, and Priapus,[XVII-63] and every year one of them was chosen for the brilliant and solemn ceremony we have already mentioned.[XVII-64] But, alas! time obscures and effaces all the glories of this world; and that of the Roman geese, no doubt, had to submit to this sad fate,[XVII-65] for they were eaten at least a century before the time of Pliny. Unfortunate bird! Yes, a perfidious art fed them delicately in the shade, in convenient aviaries, where nothing was wanting for their comfort, and at the end of a few days the poor victims made but one step from this dangerous retreat to the place of execution.[XVII-66] The Emperor Alexander Severus became so fond of this dish, that on his great festival days they served him with a goose and a pheasant.[XVII-67] Nothing, in his estimation, could equal the exquisite flavour of these two birds. The luxurious Romans, however, neglected the entire animal, and thought only of the liver. They invented the art of fattening this viscera, and of increasing its size to such an extent that it often weighed two pounds. To obtain this result, they simply fed their victims of sensuality, during twenty days, with a paste of dried figs and water.[XVII-68] As soon as the goose was killed, the liver was put to soak in milk and honey. It is not known exactly to whom we are to attribute this gastronomic discovery. Scipio, Metellus, and Marcus Sejus disputed the glory of the invention.[XVII-69] At all events, it is certain that the same method was used in Greece as in Italy; that white geese were chosen in preference,[XVII-70] and that the fat livers were served roasted, or fried in the frying-pan, and enveloped in the _omentum_, a membrane which we term the caul.[XVII-71] Pliny assures us that Apicius found means to increase livers to a monstrous size,[XVII-72] which almost equalled in weight the whole body of the animal.[XVII-73]