Albinos

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

al-bi nos, persons or animals whose skin and hair are lacking in coloring matter. The hair of an albino is much whiter than so-called light or flaxen hair. Differences in complexion, at least differences in hue, are due to the different colors of a pigment which nature stores between the transparent cuticle and the true skin. Albinos lack this coloring pigment. In other respects they are like other people. Albinos are found among all races. A negro albino is, of course, more noticeable, as a colorless, white haired negro must be. Owing to this want of pigment the blood vessels of an albino's eye are visible all the time, and give it a fiery, bloodshot appearance. An albino is sensitive to strong light, but can see better at night than other people. Lack of coloring matter, or albinism, has been observed in domestic animals and in birds. Dogs, cats, horses, sheep, hares, rabbits, rats, and mice afford examples of albinos. The famous white elephants of Siam are albinos. The white zebu of India, the sacred bull led in religious festivals, is simply an albino. An albino trout is one of the curiosities of the fish kingdom. 2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: BR 2026-07-22) 2026 Editor's Note: Albinism is now understood as an inherited inability to make the pigment melanin, and it brings serious vision problems, not merely pale skin. A grim modern chapter: in parts of East Africa, people with albinism are hunted and mutilated for body parts sold to witch doctors — a human-rights emergency the United Nations now tracks. (Ed: BR 2026-06-23)