19-6-1995

Dear Bill,

I hope all well with you. For me all good, the computer is working and is not crazy. I am organising all the Australian information. There is a very plenty of them! But are all useful!

My colleague was visiting Veronica and her fowls. He told that they are leg feathered, but don’t know the name of the breed. Veronica had only one book, but the book I needed: The races of the domestic Poultry by Edward Brown. Thus you may break off the remaining photocopies of this book.

On the contrary Veronica don’t know the book The man across the sea, and in this way it would be very good if you could photocopy the chapters regarding the fowl and the corn. Thanks.

In this moment I’m completing the part about the molecular evolution. This chapter ends with the speciation, and so I’m using the Kimball’s material. If the experience of the text transformation by scanner has been good, a day I will transform for you some parts of an English genetics book written by Stevens Lewis, Genetics and evolution of the domestic fowl, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991. This book is very easy to understand and I think that a researcher as you are must be updated. You may find the correlation between the palaeontology and the chemistry.

I have a problem in my mind. For the solution I send you the copy of the letter I’m sending to the Scientists of Aboriginal Language. I would like also know what you are thinking about this argument.

For the bibliography of my book I need the complete references of the book of Prof Rich. Have you written to her about the Malay?

Do you might give me news about the Pekin cock I operated at the Tony’s farm? Is it better or not? In my observations and in my experience I find that often the Pekins (overall the hens) show serious sinusitis. What tells your experience about this? If even you are confirming this observation of mine, then it would be possible to think that there are anatomical conditions explaining the high rate of this disease. Other fowls show sinusitis, but not seriously like the Pekin does.

Among the Cochins I have bred only the buff. Other observation is that frequently the chickens of this colour hatch with a malformation of a leg, which is in hyperextension. What tells your experience and the experience of other Australian breeders? This ask because, for example, the gene creme is not a good gene for the life. Or the buff is independent from this leg anomaly?

A last ask. Do you know if there exists a stamp with the brush turkey female? Because in the section about the behaviour I write about the lost of broody instinct, and in Italy there is the President of the Deputies (a woman) who has lost this instinct and she is quoted in my book. I have learn many interesting things with you.

Excuse my English, but a progress is that I am writing nearly without dictionary’s help.

Valenza, 19-6-1995

Dear Sir,

The following words are for Professor Dixon, or Ramson, or Thomas, but I don’t know their addresses and I send to you my letter, with the prayer to send to the attention of one of these Linguists.

During the month of May I have been guest of Mister William Plant of Maitland (NSW) checking into his endless files to achieve some arguments of my book.

During my stay in Australia I have purchased some books about the Aborigines, enclosed your book Australian Aboriginal Words in English  to have a little knowledge of your World very far geographi­cally and culturally from our old, too old Europe.

Among the battles about the first introduction of the fowl in South America (Columbus or not) there is the linguistic evidence that nearly all the Aborigines of this country called the fowl with a name not correlated with Spanish or Por­tuguese language: it is walpa, and Mister Langdon of the University of Canberra is a Master in this argument.

I was visiting the Sydney’s Museum like a hunter  of some interesting book. Here I found the big treatise of Professor Rich about the fossil recoveries of Australasia. In Australia there are not fossil recoveries of the fowl! The fowl was unknown to the Aborigines, as I may understand also from the word juku-juku  or jugi  used for the chicken, borrowed from chook. I think that it is the same problem of tharraki  for turkey. In Italy many families have as surname different derivatives from Gallus, but there are not families with a surname borrowed from turkey, because the surnames was yet fixed when this animal arrived from Central America.

Now, I need a confirmation, for my book, by Professor Dixon or others Linguists, that in the Aboriginal languages of Australia there not exists an original word to call the fowl, but that the equivalent words are all borrowed from English or other languages. I am not a Linguist, and I cannot affirm one thing that is only a supposition, may be near to the truth.

I thank you very much and excuse me. Kindest regards.