A.

A

gallum simpliciter et cum adiunctione gallum gallinaceum, et gallinaceum quoque simpliciter pro eadem ave apud veteres et probatos authores legimus, Plautum, Varronem, Ciceronem, Plinium, Lampridium, alios. Plinius[1] etiam gallinaceum genus dixit, pro gallis, gallinis, earumque pullis, cum ait: Seminarium munitum sit ad incursum gallinacei generis. Gallinaceos vocant totum hoc genus avium, quod de gallinario devolat, Gib. Longolius[2]. sed nos gallinarum quam gallinaceorum nomen frequentius ab authoribus pro genere toto usurpari animadvertimus: ut cum dicunt gallinarum multa esse genera, villaticas, Tanagraeas, Rhodias, Africanas, etc. nimirum quod in hoc genere foeminae semper plures propter partum alantur, mares perpauci, quod unus foeminis multis sufficiat. Gallum gallinaceum Albertus et alii linguae Latinae imperitiores, capum hoc est gallum castratum interpretantur: Isidorus[3] etiam gallum simpliciter. nam gallos (inquit) veteres castratos vocabant. Ad quod alludit etiam Martialis[4], gallum a castratione scribens proprie gallum vocatum iri, sed is iocatur. Constat sane idoneos scriptores omnes, galli et gallinacei nominibus sive iunctim sive seorsim, de gallis marib. id est non castratis usurpasse.

In the texts of ancient and esteemed authors as Plautus, Varro, Cicero, Pliny, Lampridius and others, we simply find written cock and, with an addition, gallinaceous cock  and, for the same bird, simply gallinaceous too. Pliny also said gallinaceous genus for roosters, hens and their chicks, when he said: The nursery has to be protected against the raids of the gallinaceous genus. They call gallinaceous this whole kind of birds, since it flies down from the gallinarium - the poultry pen, Gisbert Longolius. But I notice that by the authors for the whole genus is more frequently used the name of hens rather than of gallinaceous: as when they say that different breeds of hens are existing, those of farmyard, of Tanagra, of Rhodes, the Africans, etc.: without doubt because in this kind of birds the females are always raised in greater number for offspring, the males in very reduced number, since only a male is sufficient for many females. Albertus and others rather untrained in Latin translate gallinaceous rooster with capon, that is, castrated rooster: also Isidore translates it simply with rooster: in fact - he says - the ancients called castrated the roosters. A thing to which also Martial alludes when writing that the rooster after the castration is correctly called rooster, but he is joking. In truth it turns out that all the qualified writers used the terms rooster and gallinaceous both jointly and separately apropos of the male roosters, that is, not castrated.

Gallinae trium sunt generum, villaticae, et rusticae, et Africanae. e queis tribus generibus proprio nomine vocantur foeminae, quae sunt villaticae, gallinae, mares galli: capi seminares, quod sunt castrati, Varro[5] et Columella[6]. Et alibi Varro[7], Canterii appellantur in equis, quod semine carent: in suibus maiales, in gallis gallinaceis capi.

Hens are of three kinds, of courtyard, wild and African. Of these three kinds with fitting name are called females those which are courtyard hens, males the cocks, capons the half males, because they are castrated, Varro and Columella. And in another point Varro writes: Among horses they are called canterii, because they don't have sperm, pigs among swine, capons among roosters.