14 Account of Henry Moss, t^cl 



qui in pueritlacanescant, etpluscemantoculis per noctemi 

 quam inter dleni*." 



With respect to the alterations which have taken 

 place in the sensations and in the functions of the body 

 of Moss, I have not obtained all the information which 

 I sought 'for. Yet to this subject, my inquiries have 

 been directed with peculiar care : for I was sensible that 

 the mere description of a white-negro could not prove 

 very interesting to a society of philosophers, whilst I 

 knew that in a physiological and pathological point of 

 view, a case such as the present would not be deemed 

 unimportant, or trivial in its kind. 



From the uniform account which Moss gives of him- 

 self, it seems certain, that, along with the loss of his na- 

 tive colour, his skin is considerably more sensible to the 

 influence of heat, of friction, and of other similar causes, 

 than it was previously to the commencement of the re- 

 markable change of his body. This increased sensibi- 

 lity of the skin, which I do not think there is any rea- 

 son to doubt is of a morbid nature, is evinced by tlie 

 following circumstances. 



First. Moss asserts, that since the change began to 

 take place, he is much less capable of supporting heat 

 than formerly. The same degree of solar heat which 

 formerly he supported without any inconvenience, now 

 " bums," as he expresses himself, his naked skin, and 



* Auli Gellii Noctes Attics, Liber ix. caput iv. 



