ALB 



ALB 



pflTendcd by the ligHt of tin." day. Tlity n-erc iinablt tc 

 labour with perloiis ot tlitir ag'C, and wtrc mainiaintd by 

 the charity of a relation. Although "thi-y had not the 

 thick lips and flat nofc5 of tlie white ncgrccs, this differ- 

 ence is owing, as M. Sauliiie tliinks, to their being Al- 

 binos of r.urope, and not of Africa. Tlie malady that 

 afieifts the eyes, the complesv'on, and the colour of the 

 hair, enfeebles alio their ftrength, without altering the con- 

 formation of their features ; and of tltis malady, he appre- 

 hends, there are different degrees ; fo that it produces, in 

 various infhinces, different efiects. He at firll.afcribed it 

 to an organic debility ; in confeqiiencc of wliich, a relax- 

 ation of the lymphatic veflels within the eye, might ad- 

 mit the globules of the blood in too great abmidnnce into 

 the iris, uvea, and even the retina, and thus oceafion the 

 rcdnefs of the iris and of the pupil. This debility, he 

 fuppofed, might account for the intolerance of the light, 

 and for the whitenefs of the hair. But M. Bhimenbach, 

 profeflbr in the univerfity at Gottingen, attributes it to a 

 different caufe. He has obferved the fame phenomenon 

 in brutes, in white dogs, :\vA in owls ; and he fays, that 

 it generally occurs in the warm-blooded animals, and that 

 he has never found it in thole with cold blood. This in- 

 genious phyfiologiff is of opinion, that the rednefs of the 

 iris, and of the other internal parts of the eye, as well as 

 the extreme ienfibility that accompanies it, is owing to the 

 total privation of that brown or blackifh nuicus, which, 

 about the fifth week after conception, covers all the in- 

 terior parts of the eye in its found ilate. He obferves, 

 that Simon Pontius, in his treatiiV, " De coloribus ocu- 

 lorum," long ago remarked, that the interior membranes 

 of blue eyes are lefs abundantly provided with this black 

 mucus, and are therefore more fenfible of the aftion of 

 light. He adds, that this fenfibihty of blue eyes is very 

 conformable to the fituation of northern people, during 

 their long twilight ; and that, on the contrary, the deep 

 black in the eyes of negroes enables them to bear the ftrong 

 glare of the fun's beams in the torrid zone. As to the 

 connexion between this red colour of the eyes, and the 

 whitenefs of the (kin and hair, he fays, it is owing to a 

 fimilar;ty of llructure. This black mucus is formed, as 

 he afferts, only in the delicate cellular fubilancc, which has 

 numerous blood-veffels contiguous to it, but contains no 

 |at, like the infide of the eye, the ll<in of negroes, the 

 fpotted palate of feveral domeilic animals, &.c. and the 

 colour of the hair generally correfponds with that of the 

 iris. Gazette I^itt. de Gotinguc. O A. 1784. 



M. Buzzi, furgeon to the hofpital at Milan, publifhcd, 

 at the fame time, in the " Opufc. Scelti de Milan, 17S4. 

 torn. vii. p. 1 1." a verv intcreiting memoir, in which he 

 deinonllrates, by diffcciion, the hypothelis of M. Bhi- 

 menbach. Having an opportunity of diffefting the body 

 of a peafant, who died at the age of 30 years, in the hci- 

 pital of Milan, of a pulmonary diforder ; and who was re- 

 markable for the uncommon whitenefs of his fkin, hair, 

 beard, and all the other covered parts of the body : he 

 found the iris of the eyes perfeftly white, and the pupil 

 of a rofe-colour ; and the eyes were altogether deftitute of 

 tJiat black membrane, called the uvea, which was not dif- 

 cernible, either behind the iris or under the retina. With- 

 in the eye, there was only found the choroid coat, extremely 

 thin, and tinged of a pale red colour, by velTels filled with 

 difcolourcd blood. The il:in, when feparated from dif- 

 ferent parts of the body, appeared to be almoft wholly 

 diverted of the rete mucofum, nor was the lead trace of it 

 to be difcovered by maceration, even in the wrinkles of the 

 abdomen, where it is reoft abundant and molt vifible. The 



whitenefs of the fkin and hair is au-ribcd by M. 'Ruzz: to 

 the ableiict of the nte mucofum, which, in his ju.igmint, 

 gives the colour to t[ie cuticle, and to the hair!i that aie 

 fcattcrcd over it. In proof of this opinion, h" uliedges a 

 well-known faft, that if the {kin of the blacked hurfe be 

 accidentally detlroyed in any part of the body, the hairs 

 that afterwards grow on that part are always v.lute, becaufe 

 the rete mucofum, v.-hich tinges thofe hairs, is never re- 

 generated with the Ikin. M. Buzzi having alligned the 

 probal.'Ic proximate caufe of this phenomenon, it Hill rc- 

 niaint. to determine, what is the remote caufe of it, or how 

 the rete mucofum is dellroycd in fuch fubjedls. It feenis 

 to be a fac\, very generally admitted, that pcrfons of this 

 defcription do not fomi a dilUncl fpecies, as tiiey are pro- 

 duced from parents with dark flans and black eyes. 'i'hi= 

 was the cafe with refpecf to the Albinos of Chamouiu. 

 M. Buzzi relates a fact, cited by M. SaulTure, which fcems 

 to throv,- fome light on the fubjeft. A woman of M.Ian 

 had leven fons, of whom the two eldeff, and the two 

 youngell had brotvn hair and black eyes ; the other three 

 had white flrins, white liair, and red eyes. During the 

 pregnancies that produced tliefe Albinos, the woman had 

 a conilanl and immoderate appetite for milk, which flic 

 took in great quantities, but when flie was pregnant wltii 

 the other four, flie had no fuch defirc. But it does not 

 appear, that this preternatural appetite was not the effect 

 of a Certain heat, or internal difcafe, which deilroved l!:e 

 rete mucofum in the children before they were bori:. M. 

 Sauffute obferves, that this faulty confonnation is more raw; 

 among women than among men ; and it doe? not feem to 

 be owing to tiie air of the mountain*; for though he tni- 

 verfed the greateft. part of the Alps, and the other moun- 

 tains of Europe, he met with no other individuals of ttiis 

 kind. 



ALBINO VANTES, Pedo, in Blogr^iphy, a Latin 

 poet, to whom Ovid nddreffes his loth epiftle, " Ex 

 Ponto." Opcr. torn. iii. p. S76. Ed. Burmann. There are 

 extant of his writings, his Elegy on Drufus, and anothfr 

 on the death of Mec^nas, publiihed by Le Clerc in i-o^. 

 8vo. and in 17 15, l2mo. at Amilerdam, with a prolix cun:- 

 mentary. 



ALBINTEMELIUM, or Albium Intemki.ium, in 

 Ancient Grogrnphy, now fm/imig/iu, a town of Liguria, or 

 the prefcnt territory of Genoa. .Sec Vintimigi.ia. 



ALBINUS, Bi-RNARD, called Weiss or M^hltf, in BI- 

 pgraphy, was born at Dcffaw, in the province of Anh;dt, 

 in Saxony, January 7th, 1653, and lludied medicine at Ley- 

 den. In 1676, having taken his doctor's degree, he re- 

 ttirncd to his own country, where he foon diflinguiihed him- 

 felf for his fagaeity and learning. In 16H0, he was nomi- 

 nated profeffor of medicine at Frankfort on the Oder, and 

 became fo celcbiated for the perfpicuity of his leftures, , 

 that pupils flocked to him from all parts of Germany. la 

 1694, Frederic, eleflor of Brandenburgh, appointed him 

 his phyfician, with a penfion of 6co florins, and foon after 

 gave him a canonry at Magdeburgh. In 1702, he was 

 chofen profeffor of medicine at Leydcn. Having tilled that 

 office 19 years with the higheft reputation, he died on the 

 7th of September I 72 1, aged 68 years. 



A large collection of Thefes is publiflied under hi.s 

 name, the titles of which may be fetu in Hallcr's Bibl. 

 Med. Pract. 



Aldinus, Bernard Sigefred, fon of the for- 

 mer, proieeuted his lludies with fo much zeal and fuc- 

 cefs, that on the recommendation of BoErhaavc, he was 

 appointed profeffor of anatomy and furgery at Leyden, in 

 17 18, when he v.as only 20 years of age.. This office he 



continued. 



