Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser

THE BEAUTIFUL ALBINESS.

The female known in England, and upon the continent of Europe by this appellation has lately arrived at Quebec, and intends to visit the United States. The race of Albinos is separated into two denominations: the first are the white negroes of Africa, who have light hair, blue eyes, and a white body, resembling Europeans when viewed at a distance, but upon a nearer approach the whiteness is pale and livid; the second are those Europeans who have pink or red eyes, and white or nearly white hair, eye brows and eye lashes. The instances upon record of the existence of the European Albinos are not numerous. Two boys at Chamouni are mentioned by M. Saussure, the iris of whose eyes was rose coloured, and the pupil when viewed in the light appeared red. In their infancy their hair, eye-brows, eye-lashes and the down of their skin were very fine and of a perfect milk white; but at the age of about twenty-two or twenty-five, the hair was of a reddish cast and more strong. Mr. Bazzi, surgeon to the hospital at Milan, dissected a peasant in 1784, of about thirty years of age, of this description of persons, for the purpose of accounting for the physiological peculiarities of their conformation. A fact related by this surgeon seems to throw some light upon the subject—'A woman of Milan had seven sons of whom the eldest and the two youngest had brown hair and black eyes, and the other three had white skins, white hair and red eyes.'

The name of the subject of this article is Harver: and she was born of English parents, in a town in Essex within forty five miles of London. They had six children, three of whom inherited the same dark complexion with themselves and three, including the Albiness, were of the same extraordinary appearance. She is about 18 years old, and her two brothers were in the year 1816 exhibited at Harlem. Her hair is most wonderful: it resembles the appearance of that of the beautiful Angola goat, excepting in point of length. It has a beautiful glossy texture; but is rather coarse, and she preserves its beauty by frequently immersing it in warm water, and never uses either a comb or brush. Her eyes are apparently in a state of continual motion, over which she has no controul, and at a distance appear to be almost a bright crimson, which colour softens as you approach her (and change the forms of light) into a soft indian pink or a mixture of rose colour and lilac. Her countenance is animating and pleasing, notwithstanding the paleness of her complexion, and white eye-brows and eye-lashes. Her manners and conversation are reported to be well bred and accomplished—and her demeanour distinguished by modesty and feminine dignity. She speaks French fluently and is said to sing with taste.

The eyes of this race of beings are so weak that they cannot endure the light of a bright day: and yet when the moon shines they can see as keenly as ordinary human eyes can in a perfect light. They are altogether destitute of that black membrane called the uvea; the iris is perfectly white and the pupil of a rose colour.

'The whiteness of the skin and hair is ascribed by M. Bazzi to the absence of the rete mucosum which in his judgment, gives colour to the cuticle, and to the hairs that are scattered over it. In proof of this opinion he alleges a well known fact that if the skin of the blackest horse be anywhere accidentally destroyed, the hair which afterwards grows will be perfectly white, because the rete mucosum is never regenerated with the skin.'

Boston Intelligencer.