Retiring Presidential address / by R.W. Reid.

  • Reid, Robert William, 1851-1939.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Retiring Presidential address / by R.W. Reid. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    layers of the epidermis. The pigment consists of black or brown mole- cules of a round or oblong shape, and almost too small for exact measurement. It is worthy of remark that when viewed singly with a very high magnifying power they look transparent and almost colourless, and it is only when they are heaped together that their dark colour distinctly appears. It is present in all races, but it varies in amount. All human types can be collected into three groups—the white, the yellow, and the black. The mixture of these types and influence of surroundings have produced the many shades of colour visible in different individuals. Hairs are growths of the epidermis agreeing essentially in nature with that covering, and from the amount of pigment which they contain their differences in colour depend. The colour of the eyes is due to the pigment which is found in and immediately behind the iris. In the eye of the infant and the different shades of blue eye the colour depends upon the black pigment which is immediately behind and which covers the back of the iris, appearing more or less through the rest of the tissue of the iris, which in such cases is colourless or only but very slightly coloured.' In the black, brown, and grey eye the colour is due to the pigment contained in the substance of the iris itself. As regards the colour of the skin we found that the pale variety pre- dominated, and that freckling was observed in two cases only. In both classes too, the hair was straight and with reference to its colour we observed that in the first class. 39'I per cent, had hair of a brown colour 33'4 20-8 „ 5‘2 1-8 „ and that in the second class 38' per cent, had hair of a brown colour 34- n fair 20- )) dark 4-6 )) red 3'3 black From the above figures it will be seen that in both classes of individuals under examination more than one-third had brown hair, about one-third had fair hair, about one-fifth had dark hair, about one-twentieth red hair. fair dark red black