COMPLEXION. 



parents, continued of his native colour till he was three 

 years old : at that period a change of colour began to 

 take place, though the health of the boy continued 

 good, and there was no assignable cause for the altera- 

 tion in his food, or mode of life. At first white specks 

 made their appearance on his neck and breast, which 

 soon increased in number and size; from the upper 

 part of his neck down to his knees, he was completely 

 dappled ; his hair was also changed, but not to the same 

 degree, since, though some parts of it were white, in 

 general it retained the black colour and crispature of 

 the negro. The colour of those parts of his body which 

 had undergone the change, was of a more livid white 

 than is found among the fairest Europeans ; nor did the 

 flesh and blood appear through these parts of his skin 

 so clear and lively as through the skin of white people. 

 He was not liable to be tanned. Philosophical Trans- 

 actions, vol. xix. p. 781. 



It has been already mentioned that burning renders 

 the negro skin white ; and this cause might have been 

 supposed to have operated in the following instance, 

 had it not been expressly mentioned that the person 

 Was always well clad, and that the parts exposed to the 

 kitchen fire were not more particularly affected than 

 such parts as were not so exposed. A cook-maid, a na- 

 tive of Virginia, whose skin was originally as dark as 

 the most swarthy African, underwent a change of com- 

 plexion when she was about 25 years of age : this change 

 made its first appearance on the skin near the finger 

 nails ; the skin of the face, particularly near the mouth, 

 was afterwards affected ; and the change gradually pro- 

 ceeded, till at last four parts out of five of her face and 

 body became white ; her neck and back remained the 

 blackest. This change was different in its nature from 

 that of the former case ; for, in this instance, the skin 

 became transparent, similar to that of a fair European, 

 so that blushes could be discovered, and freckles took 

 place ; the hair was also changed to white oh those 

 parts of the body which had become white, while it 

 continued black on those parts which preserved their 

 native colour. Philosophical Transactions, vol. xli. p. 

 176. 



But the case most similar in its nature, and most 

 particularly described, is given in the Manchester Trans- 

 actions, vol. v. part 1. p. 314. The paternal grandfa- 

 ther of Henry Moss, (the person in question,) was bom 

 in Africa, and married a native Indian of Pennsylvania. 

 His father married a mulatto, born of an African father 

 and an Irish mother. His maternal grandfather Was 

 bom in Africa. He himself, till he arrived at the age 

 of 40, was of as dark a complexion as any African : a ' 

 change of colour then began to take place ; it commen- 

 ced at the skin near the root of his finger nails. It is 

 remarkable that the change proceeded most rapidly and 

 regularly, during the summer season ; during winter 

 it either was entirely suspended, or went on so slowly 

 as scarcely to be perceptible. He felt, or fancied him- 

 self, more sensible to variations of temperature, after 

 this change of colour took place, than he had been be- 

 fore. The change in the colour of his hair proceeded 

 along with the change in the colour of his skin ; and 

 wherever it became white, it became also soft, like the 



hair of Europeans, and could be drawn out to the 

 length of several inches. Mr Fisher, who transmitted 

 the account of this phenomenon, ascertained that the 

 change of colour was not external, but a change of the 

 rete mucosum; for when he pressed the skin it appeared 

 white, and on the removal of his finger, it was suffused 

 with red, as in Europeans. * 



The oxymuriatic acid has a temporary effect on the 

 black pigment, which exists in the rctemucositm of negroes. 

 Dr Beddoes subjected the fingers of a negro to the ac- 

 tion of this acid ; the skin was whitened, but the black 

 colour returned in a short time. This experiment has 

 been repeated on the feet of a negro. They were kept 

 for a considerable period in water, impregnated with 

 oxymuriatic acid, which deprived the rete mucosum of 

 its dolour, and rendered it nearly white; but in a few 

 days the black colour returned with its former inten- 

 sity. 



II. Various hypotheses have been suggested to ac- 

 count for the immediate cause of the black complexion 

 of negroes, by Mecket, Pauw, Walter, Kaht, Blumen- 

 bach, Rush, and Humboldt. 



1. The hypotheses of Mecket and Pauw nearly coin- Hypotheses 

 cide, and seem to have been derived from an observa- of Mectet 

 tion of Herodotus. This historian asserts that the and ^ a « w - 

 spermatic fluid, both in the eastern and western Ethio- 

 pians, is not white as in other men, but black like their 



skin. (Herodotus Thalia, cap. 101.) This opinion is 

 expressly denied by Aristotle, but it is supported by 

 the authority of Le Cat, in his Traite sur la Couleur de 

 la Peau. From this colour of the spermatic fluid, Mec- 

 ket and Pauw supposed that all the other fluids of the 

 negroes received a dark tinge. The former believed 

 that the liquor which colours the medullary substance 

 of the brain, was -darker coloured in the African than 

 in the European ; this he supposed arose from the co- 

 lour of the spermatic fluid, and being secreted by 

 the cutaneous nerves into the viscous reticular substance, 

 contributed towards the dark complexion of the mucous 

 membrahe.J But Soemmering expressly denies the alle- 

 gation oh which this hypothesis rests : he could not 

 observe the smallest difference in colour, either in the 

 ceneritious or medullary parts of the brain of an Afri- 

 can and European ; and, notwithstanding the authority 

 of Le Cat, the blackness of the spermatic fluid of the 

 negro may very justly be doubted. 



2. Professor Walter is of opinion, that the blood of of Walter, 

 negroes is of a darker colour than that of Europeans, 



and that this is the cause of their dark complexion. 

 This opinion is also maintained by Town, in his Paper 

 oh the Blood of Negroes, in the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions ; and Professor Soemmering seems rather dispo- 

 sed to adopt it ; but the fact is very questionable. Pro- 

 fessor Camper asserts that the blood of negroes is not 

 darker coloured than is frequently found among Eu- 

 ropeans ; and Dr Winterbottom, who must be allowed 

 to be a competent judge on this question, expressly 

 maintains, " that there is no perceptible difference in 

 the colour of the blood of an African and European." 

 Winterbottom's Account of the native Africans in the 

 neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, vol. i. p. 191. 



3. Kant, Blumenbach, and Humboldt, offer different 



• It is probable that similar changes of colour frequently take place among the negroes, in their native land, without any assigna- 

 ble cause. Mr Winterbottom says, " it is not uncommon to see persons, whose skins have undergone a change from black to white, 

 the appearance being confined to only a small part of the body. Sometimes one or both hands and feet are spotted black and white; 

 sometimes they are entirely white. The Bullones compare this disease to a caterpillar, variegated black and white, which they call 

 vnnah, and hence they name the disease ker'vnnah, or spotted worm. This change of colour is not produced by any injury done u. 

 the skin. The natives appear ignorant of the cause of this curious phenomenon. Some blame particular kinds of food, while oflms 

 more prudently confess their ignorance."— Winterbottom 'sAcctimt of Skrra Leone, vol. ii. p. 173. 



