File:Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences (1839) (20978124778).jpg

Title: Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences
Identifier: edinburghjournal02macg (find matches)
Year: 1835 (1830s)
Authors: Macgillivray, William, 1796-1852, ed; Cuvier, Georges, baron, 1769-1832. Animal kingdom of the Baron Cuvier adapted to the present state of zoological science
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Publisher: Edinburgh
Contributing Library: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

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46 THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, tion is nothing more than a partial exhibition of this change, in so far as the skin is concerned.
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,W»«.U* change as one of the greatest evils which could have afflicted her. She is a wife and mother, and her children differ in no respect from those of other Negroes." Finally, the change frequently occurs after some wound or operation, of which the following, taken from the Transactions of the Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Society, is an instance. Samuel Herd, aged fifty, had an operation performed on him in January 1818, from which he perfectly recorered. Many months afterwards he came asking for some- thing for his skin, as it was becoming white, and the other Negroes, lie said, laughed at him. His bodily health was excellent. He states that after the operation, the cicatrix remained white, and much about the same time other parts became white also, especially the hands and feet. The whitening extended up the fore-arm, till now it is nearly all white. The same process is going on in the lower extremities ; the feet, legs, thighs, and hips, being now almost all white ; some white spots show themselves on the back and shoulders, and about half the breast is of the same colour. About midsummer 1819 there was a large white marking on the abdomen, and the scalp was nearly white, shining through the dark curly hair. In another year it is noted, the ears, eyelids, forehead, and nose, are changing colour very fast. The lips have a particular bright vermilion colour; the breast, abdomen, and back, are speckled, and the extremities were now of a natural white appearance. A truly singular modification of this affection is mentioned by Dr Winterbottom, in his excellent account of the natives about Sierra Leone. " A case," says he, " occurred to me which may be regarded as an intermediate step in this phenomenon : it was that of a man, of a mulatto complexion, and much freckled, born of black parents, who had strong red hair, disposed in very small wiry curls over his whole head." BIu- menbach mentions another instance of this, and Vonder Groben several. It would be interesting to extend these remarks, but our exhausted space compels us to desist. But we must not indulge in such prefatory observations, and now re- mark that the phenomenon occurs naturally at birth, in the children of parents both of whom are black, or who are of different colours, one of them having an admixture of white blood ; and also at a later period of life, sometimes without any apparent cause ; and sometimes, again, as the result of a wound, or some other accident. We shall supply a few au- thorities and cases illustrating these several facts. " The children of Negro parents," says Dr Prichard, "are sometimes variegated, having their skin diversified with black and white spots, and part of their woolly hair white. They are commonly called Piebald Negroes. This Tariety is not very rare in the West Indies, and some examples of it have been brought to this country. The white spots have the same hue as the skin of a very fair European." This general statement, resting upon the authority of one in every way so entitled to respect, we pass to the next modification alluded to. " A black man, servant to a gentleman, married a white woman who lived in the same family, and, when she proved with child, took a lodging for her in Gray's-Inn-Lane. When she was at her full time, the master had busi- ness out of town, and took his man with him, and did not return till ten or twelve days after this woman was delivered of a girl, which was as fair a child to look at as any born of white parents, and her features ex- actly like the mother. The Black at his return was very much disturbed at the appearance of the child, and swore it was not his. But the nurse- tender soon satisfied him, for, undressing the infant, she showed him the right hip and thigh, which were as black as the father, and reconciled him immediately to both mother and child." This case is to be found in the 55th Volume of the Philosophical Transactions, and rests upon the testimony of Dr Parsons, an eminent Naturalist of his day, who tells us that, when informed of the fact, he went to the place, examined the child, and found it true. The next modification is where the change occurs in an adult Negro, and without any apparent cause. In illustration of this we abridge a case described by Dr Pinkard, as one of the greatest natural curiosities which was at the time to be seen in the West Indies. The woman alluded to was about thirty years of age, and, until the last six or seven years, possessed a completely sable skin, differing in no respect from other Negroes, "nor do her form and features now," adds the Doctor, "offer any thing remarkable, but, from the profoundest black her sur- face is growing perfectly white. She is of a good figure, and has been always regarded as of a very strong and healthy constitution. No pro- bable cause is known, or even suggested, for the change, but, about five or six years ago, white spots appeared upon her extremities, and, from that time, she has been gradually losing the natural blackness of her surface. The change commenced in the feet and hands, the legs and arms, which have all now lost their sable hue, and are even whiter than those of Europeans. Her nose and ears are also white, and some patches are spreading upon the face, neck, and bosom, but her body still remains en- tirely black. The woman continues in perfect health, and regards the ON THE NESTS OF FISHES In an early volume of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, there is a slight notice of Fishes' nests found on the coast of Berwickshire by Ad- miral Milne, but the species of Fish by which they are constructed is not mentioned. Mr Duncan of Eyemouth has ascertained that they belong to the Fifteen-spined Stickleback, (Gasterosteus Spinachia of Linnaeus) —a fact confirmed by the Rev. Mr Turnbull, to whom the Berwick- shire Club is indebted for specimens. These nests are to be found in spring and summer on several parts of our coast, in rocky and weedy pools between tide-marks. They occur occasionally near Berwick, but seem to be more common near Eyemouth and Coldingham. They are about eight inches in length, and of an ellip- tical form, or pear-shaped, formed by matting together the branches of some common Fucus, as, for example, of the Fucus nodosus, with various conferva;, ulva;, the smaller floridas, and corallinos. These are all tied together in one confused compact mass by means of a thread run through and around, and amongst them, in every conceivable direction. The thread is of great length, as fine as ordinary silk, tough, and somewhat elastic ; whitish, and formed of some albuminous secretion. The eggs are laid in the middle of this nest, in several irregular masses of about an inch in diameter, each consisting of many hundred ova, which are of the size of ordinary shot, and of a whitish or amber colour, according to their degree of maturity. The farther advanced are marked with two round black spots, which are discovered by the microscope to be the eyes of the embryo, at this period disproportionally large and developed. Masses of eggs, in different stages of their evolution, are met with in the same nest. It is evident that the fish must first deposit its spawn amid the growing fucus, and afterwards gather its branches together around the eggs, weav- ing and incorporating at the same time all the rubbish that is lying or floating around the nucleus. For the safety of its nest and spawn, the Fish is apparently very anxious for a time. Some individuals were watched, by Mr Duncan and the Rev. Mr Turnbull, for some weeks, and it was observed that the same fish was always in attendance upon its own nest. During the time of hope and expectation, they become fearless, and will allow themselves to be taken up by the hand repeatedly. There can be no doubt that their ob- ject in remaining near the nest is to guard it against the attacks of such animals as might feel inclined to prey upon its contents. Note.—Since the preceding notice was read to the Club, the Second Volume of Mr Swainson's Natural History of Fishes, &c. has been pub- lished ; and I find in it, says Dr Johnstone, that these nests are said to be constructed bv the Gobies, on the authority of Olivi. The question is worth further inquiry ; but on mentioning this statement of Olivi s to JUr Maclaren of Coldingham, he assured me that he had seen and watcnea the Stickleback in the act of making the nests we have just described.

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