New Haven August 6, 1835

Dear Sir,

I am much gratified that you are seriously at work upon the turkey tracks, or bird tracks of whatever kind they may be & you may rest assured that I shall publish nothing upon the subject until I receive it from you. I will therefore expect you to do justice to Dr. Deane as you are perfectly acquainted with the circumstances & if you see Dr. Deane I will thank you to intimate to him what I have just said. My impressions are so strong in favor of the genuineness of the discovery–judging only from the imperfect copy I have in plaster–that I feel increasingly desirous to have the matter investigated & I do not know in whose hands it can be better placed.

It would be a most interesting geological conclusion to establish that there were birds at so early an era as the new sandstone & especially that turkeys were gobbling & strutting so long before their rival man.

Sooner or later I shall hope to publish your translation of the memoir of