ALBINO. (Syn. Albinisnzus,leucopathia,leu term, as employed in phy siology, appears to have been first used by the Portuguese to designate a peculiar condition of the human body, which was occasionally observed among the negroes in the western parts of Africa. It consists in the skin and the hair being perfectly white, while in the form of the features and in all other respects the individuals in question exactly resemb:e the negro race. Another striking peculiarity of the Albino is the state of the eye, which is of a delicate pink or rose colour ; it is likewise so sensible to light as to be unable to bear the ordinary light of the day, while in the evening, or in a dark shade, its functions ai,pear to be sufficiently perfect. We learn from Wafer, who accompanied Dampier in one of his voy ages, and who relates his adventures in crossing the Isthmus of Darien, that Albinoes are not unfrequently found among the inhabitants of this district.* We are also informed by various travellers and naturalists that they are often met with in some of the oriental isles, more especially in Java and Ceylon;t in all these cases exhibiting the peculiar appearance of the skin, hair, and eyes, while, in other respects, they conformed to the external and physical characters of the people among whom they are found. The same circumstance occurs in this country and in the other parts of Europe, al though, if we are to place any confidence in the accounts of travellers, the Albino is much more frequently met with in tropical climates, especially in the western parts of Africa, and in Darien, than in the more northern regions.t We meet with a few scattered remarks in the writings of the ancients, which render it evident that this peculiar state of the human body had fal:en under their notice. We have the follow ing passage in Pliny : " Idem " (Isigonus Niomensis) " in Albania gigni quosdam glauca oculorum acie, e pueritia statim canon, qui nniu plus quam interdiu cernant." The same circumstance is referred to by Aulus Gellius : 4i . in ultima quadam terra, cline Albania dicitur, gigni homines, qui in pueritia canescunt, et plus cernunt oculis per noctem, quam inter diem ;"-t- and by Solinus : lie says that the Albanians " albo trine nascuntur ;" " gl auco oculis inest pupula, ideo nocte plus quam die cernunt."X Pliny, in speaking of the inhabi tants of a certain district in the interior of Africa, names them Leucwthiopes ,§ and, as it has been supposed that in this passage he referred to the Albinoes, the term has been applied to them by some eminent modern naturalists ; II but it appears more probable that the Leuca2thiopes were a tribe of negroes whose complexion was rather less dark than that of the Africans generally!' It has been like wise supposed that Celsus alluded to the Al bino, when he speaks of a peculiar condition of the skin under the name of Leuce ;t but this appears to be a morbid cutaneous affection, and to have no reference to the subject now under consideration.
From the number of Albinoes which were supposed to exist in certain countries, as well as from the marked peculiarity in their ap pearance, an opinion was long entertained that they formed a distinct race or variety of the human species,t originating in some unknown cause, and bearing the same relation to the other inhabitants of the countries in which they are found that the acknowledged varieties of the human species bear to each other. But this opinion, although sanctioned by high authority, may be considered as decisively disproved by the well-ascertained fact, that Albinoes are born of parents who do not possess this characteristic peculiarity of the skin, hair, and eyes.§
Although Albinoes are of comparatively rare occurrence in Europe, yet we have had a suffi cient number of examples to render us per fectly familiar with the appearance which they present, and with the precise nature of the circumstances which characterize them.' The skin is of a milky whiteness, without the slightest admixture of the brown or olive tint which is found in the complexion of even the fairest European female ; the hair is also per fectly white,t and is generally of a soft or silky texture, while all the coloured parts of the eye are of a delicate rose colour. 'We are informed that the skin of the African and American Albino is not only completely free from any shade of brown or olive, but that it is also devoid of the pink tinge which is found more or less in the complexion of the European. It would appear, likewise, that the skin of the tropical Albino is frequently in a diseased state, being covered with scales of a leprous nature, and with a serous exudation, which proceeds from the fissures or clefts that take place in various parts of the surfacel It has been a very general opinion, that be sides the peculiar state of the integuments, the Albino possesses a general delicacy of habit and constitution, and that he exhibits a defici ency even of mental power.§ For this latter opinion there appears to be no sufficient foun dation, and with respect to the former we may remark, that any general weakness of the phy sical frame, if it be actually found to exist,,may be probably referred, at least in some degree, to the peculiar condition of the eyes and the skin, which are not well adapted either to a bright light or to a high temperature, and there fore render the individuals less able to bear exposure to the weather, or to perform the ordinary occupations of life. To the same cause may be ascribed the morbid condition of the skin, which, as was remarked above, occurs not unfrequently in hot climates, and which is not observed in the European Albino. Partly from the circumstances stated above, and partly from the idea of imperfection or defect, which is connected with their appearance, the tropical Albino is generally regarded by his country men with a degree of compassion or even of contempt;' and hence is derived one of their popular denominations, chacrelas, which is a corruption of kakkerlakken, the Dutch name for the cock-roach, as being, like those animals, able to leave their haunts only in the evening.t Besides the complete Albino, which we have now described, there are occasional examples of individuals, where the whiteness of the skin exists in certain parts of the surface only, while the remainder of the body is of its ordinary colour.X In the majority of cases the peculi arities which constitute the Albino are connate, and continue during life without any change. There are, however, some instances, where the whiteness of the skin does not exist at birth, but makes its appearance at a subsequent pe riod, generally by slow degrees, until the com plete Albino character is induced.§ When once formed it does not seem that it ever d is appears, or is even in any degree diminished, nor have we any authentic accounts of its being removed by any constitutional change, either natural or morbid, or by external applications.