THE INDIAN ANTELOPE. 195 
cause. It is always accompanied, as in the present 
instance, by a redness of the eyes, arising from the 
blood-vessels of the iris being exposed to view in conse- 
quence of the want of the usual coating formed by this 
secretion, by which they are naturally protected from 
the too great influence of the light. In the human race 
the individuals who are thus afflicted, characterized by 
the dull whiteness of their skins, the deep redness of 
their eyes, and their colourless, or, as it is generally 
termed, flaxen, hair, are called Albinos. They are 
generally timid in disposition, languid in character, and 
weak both in mind and body. The same original con- 
formation, for it is always born with the individual and 
never acquired in after life, although sometimes pro- 
longed beyond its limits in the shape of an hereditary 
legacy, is common to many animals. Perhaps the most 
familiar instances among these are the white mice, the 
white rabbits, and the white pigeons, which are known 
to every one. But it has also been occasionally seen 
in many other species, as monkeys, squirrels, moles, 
pigs, and even cows and horses, and, to come a little 
closer to our present subject, in goats and deer. Not 
even that massive and stupendous beast the Elephant 
is exempted from its influence. It can hardly be neces- 
sary to recall to the reader the title on which the ruler 
of millions of not uncivilized Asiatics, the Burmese 
monarch, prides himself more than on any other, inas- 
much as it is the emblem of power and prosperity, that 
of Lord of the White Elephant; a title, which, while it 
demonstrates the fact of the existence of this deviation 
in the Elephant as well as in other animals, proves also 
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