The New Student's Reference Work/Albino

Albino (ăl-bē' nō), a person or animal whose skin and hair are perfectly white. The white negroes of West Africa were first called by this name by the Portuguese, but it is now applied to persons of any race who have this peculiarity, though it is most common among dark races. Animals also have the same peculiarity, as the white elephant, white hare and white mice. The whiteness is caused by the absence of coloring matter in the outside layer of the skin. The eyes of albinoes are red, and are weak in the daytime but strong at night.