1913] The Ottawa Naturalist 123 



"Melanic varieties, as they are termed,' says Beddard, 

 "often occur on islands and other situations where the climate 

 is moist as well as warm.' On the other hand, in such a 

 country as New Zealand, white, or what are called albino, 

 varieties of Hrds, and many living forms, are said to be frequent 

 owing to very dry seasons or periods of drought, and to the 

 presence of snow T on the lofty ranges of mountains, which for 

 height and grand scenic features resemble our own Pacific 

 coast mountains. The whitening process in our Northern Hare 

 {he pus americanus, Erxl.) has been carefully studied, and it has 

 been proved that the summer coat actually bleaches, but the 

 change is accompanied by a growth of new hair, so that the 

 coat is thicker than in summer and the hairs are longer. The 

 outer border of the ears remains black, but the rest of the fur 

 becomes pure white, the blanching successively passing from 

 the black tip of each hair down the reddish middle part to the 

 basal leaden-colored part. The hairs of the forehead and 

 shoulders are the last to change and a few long black hairs 

 are alwavs present above and below the eyes and extend back- 

 wards. One observer, Mr. Welch, tells us that the entire change 

 occupies about three months, from early in October till late in 

 December, but further north, in the latitude of Quebec, it is 

 said to be, usually, early in November, and the whitening is also 

 more rapidly accomplished. Sir John Ross observed a lemming 

 on board his vessel change color in a week, in February. 

 Whether the assumption of a white winter coat is due to Arctic 

 environment, or to natural selection and heredity (the white 

 examples surviving when other examples were more readily seen 

 by enemies and exterminated), it is not necessary here to 

 discuss. The brown musk-ox, the black raven, the sable and 

 other northern animals do not change, and thus the matter is 

 a complicated one. But the term albino should not be ap- 

 plied to forms which are white normally, or turn white seasonally 

 as an established feature in their life; but should apply rather 

 to the somewhat erratic and abnormal cases of whiteness and 

 lack of normal coloration due to some congenital cause, apparent- 

 ly allied to a diseased or pathological condition. 



An extremely rare and interesting case of this true albinism 

 was discovered this season (1913) at the St. Andrew's Biological 

 Station, New Brunswick. A specimen of the common, sea- 

 urchin (Strongylocentrotus drobrachiensis) of our Atlantic shores, 

 over three inches in diameter, instead of exhibiting the reddish 

 purple and variegated colors of typical specimens, was of the 

 purest chalk-white, the plates of the somewhat depressed globular 

 test or shell, as well as the crowded sharp-pointed moveable 

 spines, being entirely destitute of color. Even the eve spots, 



