334 Anomalies of Pigmentation among Natives of Nyasaland 
that is, those tissues which normally contain sufficient pigment to be evident to 
the unaided eye, it has been found that, even when they appear to contain none 
to the unaided eye, on microscopical examination a certain amount of pigment 
may be present ; such has been demonstrated in the case of the eye and hairs. 
Pearson divides albinotic negroes into the following classes : 
(I) Complete albino. 
(II) The spotted (freckled) albino. 
(III) The blue-eyed white-skinned negro with photophobia and nystagmus 
but not red pupils. 
(IV) The yellow-eyed white-skinned negro. 
(V) Xanthous negro. 
(VI) The partial albino or piebald negro. 
Considerable confusion I think has arisen over the matter of the colour of the 
eye, which in my opinion invalidates some descriptions and also probably the 
above classification. "Eyes said to have the pinkish colour common to albinos," 
"the eyes are pink," are expressions commonly found in reading descriptions. 
Again, Sir H. Johnston in referring to Nyasaland writes, "cases of Albinism when 
the hair is yellowish white, the iris of the eye pink and the body skin an un- 
wholesome-looking, reddish white are not common." When I say that I have 
collected a very large number of albinos in that country and that I have never 
seen a case presenting this characteristic of the iris, I think it may be assumed 
that in this case as in some others a lack of precise observation has led Sir H. 
Johnston to make an incorrect statement. 
The same is, I think, true of a number of the loose statements made by other 
persons. They know that in typical European albinos and in, say, white mice 
the eye is " pink," and when they see a native of Africa with white skin and hair 
in whom it is difficult to get a proper view of the eye owing to nystagmus and 
photophobia they assume that the " eye is pink." 
Dr Turner in describing cases of albinism seen in S. Africa, does not specify 
the colour of the irides and pupil in individual cases but refers only in general 
terms to the peculiar pink colour of the pupil, yet from the context it is evident 
he is speaking of the red reflex obtained through the pupils with the use of 
artificial light, though Pearson does not make this point clear. 
The point I wish to emphasize is that in all cases noted by myself, when seen 
in ordinary daylight the pupil appears black a,nd there is no red colour seen 
through the pupils under these conditions as seen in European albinos. I believe 
this to be true of African albinos in general, though I do not altogether doubt 
the occurrence in rare instances of the other phenomenon. The explanation lies, 
I think, in the fact that absolute albinism of the eye in negroes is very rare and 
that the amount of pigmentation present is sufficient to prevent a large light 
entry and reflexion : that is to say, the number of complete negro albinos who 
