122 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A CURIOUS CASE OF ALBINISM. 

 Messrs. Editors : 



There is recorded in one of the popular 

 encyclopaedias the instance of a Welsh fam- 

 ily in which each alternate child was an 

 albino. This is, without doubt, remarka- 

 ble ; but there is now living, in a rural vil- 

 lage on the banks of the Hudson, the rem- 

 nants of quite as interesting a family, com- 

 posed of both colored and white negroes. 

 The wonder is, that some one curious in re- 

 search has not long since found them out, 

 made them a study, and perhaps woven 

 them into history. 



Accustomed to see the members of this 

 family daily, in my early life, they yet never 

 ceased to be a new source of interest and 

 astonishment ; and, desiring to see them 

 again, and to learn a few additional facts 

 in regard to their history, I recently made 

 a special journey to our native town — theirs 

 and mine — expressly to meet them and talk 

 with them once more. 



The colored progenitors are still living, 

 and are now probably between sixty and 

 seventy years of age. Thirteen living chil- 

 dren have been born to them, of whom five 

 have been pure albinos, and eight just as 

 pure representatives of the African type. 

 The first birth was black, after which they 

 regularly alternated, white and black, as far 

 as the tenth, after which all were black. 



According to the authorities upon this 

 subject, albinos are usually males, yet four 

 out of the five in this family have been fe- 

 males. The texture of the skin with this 

 class is generally coarse and rough, but 

 with these it has always seemed to me to 

 be fine and delicate. The mental ability of 

 albinos, as a class, ranks low, but it is not 

 true in this instance — in fact, during my 

 recent visit to them I was much impressed 

 with their practical sense and quite correct 

 use of language. In music the whole fam- 

 ily, black and white, has evidenced native 

 ability that is almost genius. A piano is one 

 of the few household gods, and they have all 

 been accustomed to play and sing from ear- 

 liest childhood, without instruction, but very 

 acceptably. Years ago, when the family was 

 large, their clear, pure, though untrained 

 voices awakened long echoes through the vil- 

 lage streets, and even the most critical gossips 

 found no fault with the melodious strains. 



But three of the thirteen children are 

 now living — one colored and two white 

 daughters. The colored daughter has been 

 married several years, and is the mother of a 

 large family, none of whom, I am informed, 

 bear abnormal traces. Both white daugh- 

 ters married colored husbands (their associ- 

 ations are, in fact, entirely with the colored 

 people), and one is now a widow. She has 

 been the mother of two black children, both 

 of whom are dead. The other daughter has 

 been married but a few months. 



I As children, playing harmoniously and 

 affectionately together, the spectacle was 

 very curious ; I hardly know whether to 

 term it one of pleasure or pain, but the ab- 

 normal and incongruous must, perhaps, al- 

 ways be productive of more or less painful 

 emotions, even if there be no physical or 

 mental suffering apparent in the object. 



Those of the family that have died, 

 whether black or white, faded young and 

 with slight provocation ; but the three now 

 remaining appear healthy and strong. 



As children, the albinos struggled with 

 the sunlight, always placing both hands 

 closely around the eyes, thus excluding every 

 possible ray; but I observed, while with 

 them recently, that they were far less sensi- 

 tive to the light than formerly, and they so 

 acknowledged. Because of their sensitive 

 sight, Linneeus called this class of people 

 nocturnals. 



My purpose in this letter has merely 

 been to call attention to this family, which 

 has impressed me all my life as one of great 

 interest. If any of my readers should desire 

 further iuformation, I shall very willingly, 

 through the medium of this magazine, give 

 names and address, or any facts in my own 

 knowledge which have not been recorded in 

 this communication. J. S. H. 



Albany, New Yokk, Marcli 20, 1S84. 



INSECTS AND DISEASE. 

 Messrs. Editors : 



In the January number of " The Popu- 

 lar Science Monthly " is a letter from A. G. 

 Boardman, of Macon, Georgia, in which he 

 describes the painful and mischievous re- 

 sults which follow when a "minute fly," 

 called a " black gnat," flies into the eye and 

 is killed by its secretions. He connects 

 these consequences with the carrying of in- 

 fection-germs by insects. 



The true explanation of the intense pain 

 and subsequent inflammation is, I believe, 

 much simpler. Formic acid is a powerful 

 irritant. It was originally obtained by 

 pounding ants in a mortar, and distilling 

 their remains. It is now produced much 

 more easily, and has been shown to be se- 

 creted not only by ants but by other insects, 

 and this secretion is apparently exaggerated 

 when the insect is attacked or irritated. It 

 is probably a means of defense. This be- 

 ing the case, such a fly, during its death- 

 struggles amid the secretions of the eye, 

 would emit a maximum amount of this irri- 

 tant. 



Cantharadin is another active irritant 

 principle, emitted not only by the Spanish 

 fly, from which it is named, but also by 

 many other insects. Its irritant properties 

 resemble those of formic acid, but are still 

 more powerful ; so much so, that y^o of a 

 grain applied to the outer skin of the body 



