Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/493

Rh A L B A L B 455 town after town was taken, the inhabitants were put to the sword without distinction of age or sex, and the numerous, ecclesiastics who were in the army especially distinguished themselves by a bloodthirsty ferocity. At the taking of Beziers (July 22, 1209), the Abbot Arnold, being asked how the heretics were to be distinguished from the faithful, made the infamous reply, &quot;Slay all; God will know his own.&quot; The war was carried on under the command of Simon de Montfort with undiminished cruelty for a num ber of years. Raymond s nephew, Viscount Raymond Roger, who had espoused the cause of the Albigenses, was taken prisoner at Carcassone, and the sect became fewer in numbers year by year. The establishment of an In quisition at Languedoc in 1229 accelerated the exterminat ing process, and a few years later the sect was all but extinct. ALBINO. The name Albinism, or Leucopathia, is ap plied to a remarkable peculiarity in the physical constitu tion of certain individuals, which consists in the skin and hair being perfectly white. The earliest accounts we have of it refer to its being observed among the negroes of West Africa by the Portuguese, who called the persons so affected Albinoes. They have also been called Leuccethiopes, i.e., white negroes. Albinism is most common and most marked in the negro and Indian races, but it occurs in all parts of the world and among all the varieties of the human race. The appearance arises from the absence of the minute particles of colouring matter which ordinarily occur in the lowest and last-deposited layers of the epidermis or outer skin, and to the presence of which the skin owes its colour. With very rare exceptions, it affects the entire body, and continues through life. The skin of the albino is of a dull milky or pearly colour, unrelieved by the slightest tint of red or brown, and is generally of rough texture. All the hair on the body is of the same dull hue, and is commonly soft and silky. Another peculiarity that invariably accompanies this whiteness of skin and hair is an affection of the eyes : the pupil is a bright red, and the iris (or ivJiite of the eye) that surrounds it is of a pale rose colour. This redness is attributable to the absence of a colouring matter, the pigmentum nigrum of the membrane of the eye, which serves to protect the retina. In conse quence of this defect, the eye of an albino cannot bear a strong light. Albinism is hereditary in the same limited degree as blindness, deafness, &c. See on this Darwin s Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication (chap, xii.), where mention is made that &quot;two brothers married two sisters, their first cousins, none of the four nor any relation being an albino ; but the seven children pro duced from this double marriage were all perfect albinoes.&quot; Apart from the peculiarities mentioned above, there is no distinction between albinoes and other men. Albinism is not to be regarded as a diseased condition of body; and the idea, once entertained, that it is accompanied with a want of physical and mental vigour is now completely ex ploded. Probably this notion arose from some of the albinoes whose condition was first described being unhealthy or imbecile; and even still more (as the interesting account of Saussure, Voyages dans les Alpes, 1787, suggests) from the temptation to which, as natural curiosities, they were exposed to live in indolence without exerting their natural powers. In many species of animals albinism occurs, i.e., an abnormal whiteness of the skin, hair, feathers, &c., due to similar causes as in the human albino, but not so uni formly permanent. Of this, white hares, mice, blackbirds, &c., are instances. White elephants are regarded with particular veneration by some eastern nations. ALBINUS (originally WEISS), BERNARD SIEGFRIED, a celebrated anatomist, born in 1697 at Frankfort-on- the-Oder, where his father was professor of the practice of medicine. In 1702 the latter was transferred to a pro fessorship at Leyden, and it was there that Bernard Siegfried commenced his studies, having for his teachers such men as Boerhaave, Bidloo, and Rau. His great ability, especially in surgery and anatomy, was early recognised, and Rau, so justly celebrated as a lithotomist, is said to have seldom performed an important operation without inviting him to be present. Having finished his studies at Leyden, he went to Paris, where, under the instruction of Vaillant, Winslow, and others, he devoted himself especially to anatomy and botany. After a year s absence, he was, on the recommendation of Boerhaave, recalled in 1719 to Leyden to be a lecturer on anatomy and surgery. Two years later he succeeded his father in the professorship of these subjects, and delivered an address at his installation which was received with uni versal approbation. Albinus speedily became one of the most famous teachers of anatomy in Europe, his class room being resorted to not only by students, but by many practising physicians. With little original genius, and no special talent for exposition, he possessed those habits of accurate observation and patient research which are the best qualification for his department of study. The en gravings of bones and muscles executed by Wandelaar for the treatise of Albinus on these organs were far superior in clearness and exactness to anything that had previously been produced. In 1745 Albinus was appointed professor of the practice of medicine, being succeeded in the anato mical chair by his brother Frederick Bernard, who, as well as another brother, Christian Bernard, attained consider able distinction. Bernard Siegfried was twice rector of his university, and was an associate of the learned societies of London, St Petersburg, and Haarlem. He died on the 9th September 1770. ALBINUS, FLACCUS. See ALCUIN. ALBOIN, a king of the- Lombards, who invaded Italy, 568 A.D. He was murdered at Verona on the 8th Juno 573. See ITALY and LOMBARDS. ALBORNOZ, GIL ALVAREZ CARILLO DE, a cardinal of Spain, was born at Cuenca early in the 14th century, and was related to the royal families of Leon and Arragon. While still young he was appointed archbishop of Toledo by Alfonso XI. of Castile. Uniting, as many in that age did, the exercise of the military with that of the clerical profession, he was able to show his gratitude to his patron by saving the king s life at the battle of Tarifa in 1340. He conducted the siege of Algeciras in 1343, when the king dubbed him a knight. Falling into disfavour with Pedro the Cruel, whose licentious life he had rebuked, he fled to Avignon, then the papal seat, and was soon after wards made a cardinal by Pope Clement VI. In 1353 Innocent VI. sent him as a legate into Italy, with a view to the restoration of the papal authority in the States of the Church. He was recalled in 1357, but was sent again to Italy after a brief interval; and in 1362 had paved the way for the return of Urban V. to Rome. As a mark of gratitude, the pope appointed him legate at Bologna in 1367, but he died at Viterbo the same year. According to his own desire, his remains were carried to Toledo, where Henry of Castile caused them to be entombed with almost royal honours. A work by Albornoz on the con stitution of the Church of Rome, first printed at Jesi in 1473, is now very rare. The college of St Clement at Bologna was founded by Albornoz. ALBRECHTSBERGER, JOHANN GEORG, a celebrated musician, born at Kloster-Neuburg, near Vienna, on the 3d February 1736. He studied musical composition under the court organist, Mann, and became one of the most learned and skilful contrapuntists of his age. After being employed as organist at Raab and Maria-Taferl, he was