17-6-1991
Dear
Bill,
I
was really pleased to get your latest volume ($10 enclosed, by the way), and
to hear that you’re soldiering on despite some eye troubles. I can’t
imagine how I would have coped if I couldn’t see to read for any length of
time, as reading and correspondence are so important to me. I’m not
surprised you found it frustrating, and I hope your sight holds up for you.
The
Jungle Fowls volume is very well
done. It’s better set-out than the previous volumes, and it’s really full
of excellent information. I’ve read it several times already and I’m
always noticing new information each time. The only problem with my copy is
that page 10 is blank. Would it be possible to get a photocopy of this page?
No rush.
I’m
particularly interested in the separate origin theories for the Asian breeds
of fowl. The impression I had the first time I saw a Malay Game was of a whole
new species of bird unlike anything I’d seen before. Whether it’s tine or
not, it certainly bears close consideration.
Egg
colour is always a special interest of mine, which is only I keep Araucanas
and Welsummers (I have been selecting Welsummers to get the proper brown eggs
which so many strains now lack, and their egg colour is now very close to that
of a Barnevelder). The impression I have had from my reading has been that all
brown-egg breeds are either Asian, or have Asian blood in them.
This
certainly is another aspect which suggests that Asian and Western pure breeds
are very different. I’m not so convinced that there were two now-extinct
Junglefowl which were the ancestors of different Asian breeds. Many of the
Asian Types have strong similarities (e.g. large size, ground-dwelling habit,
brown eggs, comb-types, etc) which suggest a single common ancestor rather
than two different ones.
If
the ancestors of Asian and Western stocks are different species, this could
almost certainly be shown by electrophoresis. Of course, you pointed out the
main problem with this would be obtaining absolutely pure stocks. It might
still be possible, though. For example, many English strains of Dorking may
still be pure, laying white eggs, having distinct skin colour etc. A number of
Dorking strains in Australia have Faverolles mixed in, so are no longer pure
as Faverolles definitely have Asian blood.
It
should also still be possible to obtain some pure Asian stocks in China, but
this means that any researcher wanting to do work of this kind would have to
travel both to China and to England (or any other country in Europe where pure
stocks of Mediterranean/European breeds still existed).
I’ve
been trying to get more information on Araucanas, in particular the book by
Caudill. Do you know of anyone in Australia with a copy? It has long been out
of print, so I am eagerly trying to get hold of a photocopy. I’ve also tried
contacting the British and Canadian Araucana Societies in the hope of picking
up a second hand copy but no luck so far.
You
mentioned the paper you received from Cawley in the USA. Would it be possible
to obtain a photocopy of it from you, or his address to contact him directly?
I’d be happy to pay any costs, of course.
The
information you have been getting on pre-Columbian chicken bone recoveries and
the older recoveries in Thailand etc sound very promising. I am looking
forward to hearing more about this when you print the next volume. You mention
new information coming through from China, and that has to be an important
source of information. Completely off the record (because I have no evidence
for saying it), I would not be surprised if chickens in China and parts of
Asia turned out to be among the very first animals even domesticated on earth.
Certainly, they would have required less effort and elaborate fencing (etc) to
keep them as domestic animals that large and dangerous animals such as wild
cattle, bears and wolves!
I’ve
had a long day, so I’ll sign off, now. I’ll be re-reading volume 3 a few
more times, and thinking a bit more about it too; there’s quit a bit there
to absorb, and you’re obviously put a huge amount of work into it. I’ll be
looking forward to further volumes and to hearing from you again fairly soon.
Regards,
P.S.
I’ve just read an interesting book on domestic animals and their history,
which includes a large chapter on Fowls. It is a detailed summary of what is
definitely known, and what is not known definitely, about fowls, including
pre-Columbian chickens. Although it is basically conservative, the author
keeps an open mind and includes alternative ideas, and gives many references.
I’ll send you a copy when I have a chance to photocopy it.