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.