ALB 



ALC 



Indians must be a species of disease 

 which they derive from their parents; 

 and the production of whites by negro 

 parents, which sometimes happens, con- 

 firms the same theory. According to 

 this author, white appears to be the pri- 

 mitive colour of nature, which may be 

 varied by climate, food, and manners, to 

 yellow, brown, and black; and which, in 

 certain circumstances, returns, but so 

 much altered, that it has no resemblance 

 to the original whiteness, because it has 

 been adulterated by the causes that are 

 assigned. Nature, he says, in her most 

 perfect exertions, made men white ; and 

 the same nature, after suffering every 

 possible change, still renders them white : 

 but the natural or specific whiteness is 

 very difFerentfrom the individualor acci- 

 dental. Of this we have examples in 

 vegetables, as well as in men and other 

 animals. A white rose is very different, 

 even in the quality of whiteness, from a 

 red rose, which has been rendered white 

 by the autumnal frosts. He deduces a 

 farther proof that these white men are 

 merely degenerated individuals, from the 

 comparative weakness of their constitu- 

 tion, and from the extreme feebleness of 

 their eyes. This last fact, he says, will 

 appear to be less singular, when it is 

 considered that in Europe very fair men 

 have generally weak eyes ; andhe has re- 

 marked that their organs of hearing are 

 often dull: and it has been alleged by 

 others, that dogs of a perfectly white co- 

 lour are deaf. This is a subject which 

 demands farther investigation. Buffon's 

 Natural History. 



ALBUCA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Hexandria Monogynia class and order : 

 corolla six-petalled ; the inner ernes con- 

 nivent; outer ones spreading; style tri- 

 angular: this genus is distinguished in- 

 to those species, three of whose stamina 

 are fertile ; and into others, in which all 

 the stamina and fertile : of the former 

 there are six species ; of the latter eight. 

 They are all found at the Cape. 



ALBUMEN, in chemistry, a term to 

 denote the white of egg, and all glary, 

 tasteless substances, which, like it, have 

 the property of coagulating into a white, 

 opaque, tough, solid substance, when 

 heated a little under the boiling point. 

 This substance forms a constituent of 

 many of the fluids of animal bodies, and 

 when coagulated, it constitutes also an 

 important part of their solids. Substan- 

 ces analogous to it have been noticed in 

 the vegetable kingdom. The essential 

 characters of albumen are the following : 



1. In its natural state it is soluble in wa- 

 ter, and forms a glary, limpid liquid, ha- 

 ving- very little taste : in this state it may 

 be employed as a paste and a varnish. 



2. The solution is coagulated by acids, in 

 the same way us milk is acted upon ; and 

 also by heat of the temperature of 170, 

 and by alcohol. 3. Dissolved in water, 

 it is precipitated by the infusion of tan ; 

 and also in the form of white powder by 

 the salts of most of the white metals, as 

 silver, mercury, lead and tin. 4. AVhen 

 burnt it emits ammonia, and when treated 

 with nitric acid, yields azotic gas. The 

 juice of the papaw tree yields albumen; 

 so also does the juice of the fruit of the 

 hibiscus esculentis: that obtained from 

 the latter has been used in the West In- 

 dies as a substitute for white of eggs in 

 clarifying sugar. 



ALBURNUM, denotes the white, soft 

 substance that lies between the inner bark 

 and the wood of trees, composed of lay- 

 ers of the former, wliich have not at- 

 tained the solidity of the latter. Plants, 

 after they have germinated, do not re- 

 main stationary, but are continually in- 

 creasing in size. A tree, for instance, 

 every season adds considerably to its 

 bulk. The roots send forth new shoots, 

 and the old ones become longer and 

 thicker. The same increment takes place 

 in the branches and the trunk. A new 

 layer of wood, or rather of alburnum, is 

 added annually to the tree in every part, 

 just under the bark; and the former lay- 

 er of alburnum assumes the appearance 

 of perfect wood. The alburnum is found 

 in largest quantities in trees that are vi- 

 gorous ; though in such as languish and 

 are sickly there is a great number of 

 beds. In an oak six inches in diameter 

 the alburnum is said to be nearly equal 

 in bulk to the wood. 



ALCA, auk, in ornithology, a genus of 

 theorder of Anseres, in the Linnaean sys- 

 tem, the characters of which are, that the 

 bill is without teeth, short, compressed, 

 convex, frequently furrowed transversely; 

 the inferior mandible is gibbous before the 

 base; the nostrils are behind the bill; 

 and the feet have generally three toes. 

 This genus comprehends 12 species, of 

 which we shall notice the following: A. 

 torda, with four furrows on the bill, and a 

 white line on each side, running from the 

 bill to the eyes. This is the alca of Clu- 

 sius and Brisson ; the pinguin of Buffon ; 

 and the razor-bill, auk, or murre, of Pen- 

 nant, Ray, Willoughby, Albinus, Edwards, 

 and Latham. This species weighs about 

 22 ounces; its length js about 18 inches. 



