508 DR DAVY ON THE ALBINO. 
questioned on the subject, the brother said he should like to have a wife, did not 
his poverty prevent him. They were orphans and beggars. I was informed that 
their parents had other two children, who were also Albinos; they died young. 
The Albino of whom I have next to make mention was a young woman, well 
grown, and rather tall, the only child of black parents. Her hair and eyes differed 
in colour from those of the preceding. Her hair, long, and fine, was much darker, 
of a yellowish-brown. Her eyes were stronger, very like the eyes of a European 
of the same light complexion—a pure blonde—the pupil being black, the iris blue. 
In England, this young woman would be considered very fair, but not an anomaly. 
She too was unmarried. 
The next I have to describe were sisters, two of a family of seven children, 
three of whom were Albinos, four of the colour of their parents. The eldest of 
the Albinos I did not see; she was married and living at a distance. She was 
described as being very like her sister next in age, a girl twelve years old. This 
girl was fully formed, her breasts well developed. Her skin was fair, but not 
remarkably so; where it had been exposed to the air it was a little sunburnt. Her 
hair was of a yellowish-brown colour, long and fine. The eyes were large, well 
formed, and not weak; the pupils were black, the iris bluish-grey, its outer margin 
hazel coloured. Her countenance was agreeable and intelligent; and she was 
described as lively and well disposed. Her sister, five years old, was fairer; the 
pupils of her eyes flesh-coloured, and much dilated; the iris bluish-grey. In 
features she resembled her sister. 
All these Albinos were natives of the south-west coast of Ceylon, where the 
average heat is about 80° of Fahr., the yearly range remarkably small, little 
exceeding 10°, with a climate distinguished for salubrity, and the absence of 
malaria. The temperature of those I tried—the Albinos—was not peculiar; like 
that of the other natives and of European residents, it was about 1° higher than 
that of man in a cool climate. 
I have heard it said that the Albino is held in contempt by the Singalese; this, 
on inquiry, I was assured was a mistake; on the contrary, as regards colour, that 
they are rather respected. Nor is such a feeling towards them surprising, con- 
sidering that in the East a light hue is held to be distinctive of high caste, and 
vice versa ; the lowest castes, those in least easy circumstances and most exposed 
to the sun, being dark. Moreover, the ethnologists of Ceylon, the Singalese 
savants, are of opinion, that the white races of mankind are sprung from the 
Albino, and ab origine were merely an accidental variety. 
It would be interesting to know what would be the offspring of Albinos. The 
inquiry I made on this point was unsatisfactory; I could not learn of any descen- 
dant from Albino parents, either pure or mixed. Judging from analogy, whether 
we regard the blondes of the human race, or the white varieties of any domesti- 
cated animals, is it not probable that the complexion would be hereditary @ 

