Cole-black as ours, but partly of a Whitish Colour)
in spight of Porphyries examples of Inseparable
Accidents, I have seen a perfectly White Raven, as
to Bill as well as Feathers, which I attentively considered,
for fear of being impos’d upon. And this
recalls into my Memory, what a very Ingenious Physician
has divers times related to me of a young Lady, to
whom being call’d, he found that though she much
complain’d of want of Health, yet there appear’d
so little cause either in her Body, or her Condition
to Guess that She did any more than fancy her self
Sick, that scrupling to give her Physick, he perswaded
her Friends rather to divert her Mind by little Journeys
of Pleasure, in one of which going to Visit St. Winifrids
Well, this Lady, who was a Catholick, and devout
in her Religion, and a pretty while in the Water to
perform some Devotions, and had occasion to fix her
Eyes very attentively upon the Red pipple-stones,
which in a scatter’d order made up a good part
of those that appear’d through the water, and
a while after growing Bigg, she was deliver’d
of a Child, whose White Skin was Copiously speckl’d
with spots of the Colour and Bignesss of those Stones,
and though now this Child have already liv’d
several years, yet she still retains them. I have
but two things to add concerning the Blackness of
Negroes, the one is, that the Seat of that
Colour seems to be but the thin Epidermes, or
outward Skin, for I knew a young Negroe, who
having been lightly Sick of the Small Pox or Measles,
(for it was doubted which of the two was his Disease)
I found by enquiry of a person that was concern’d
for him, that in those places where the little Tumors
had broke their passage through the Skin, when they
were gone, they left Within specks behind them; And
the lately commended Piso assures us, that
having the opportunity in Brasil to Dissect
many Negroes, he cleerly found that their Blackness
went no deeper than the very outward Skin, which Cuticula
or Epidermis being remov’d, the undermost
Skin or Cutis appear’d just as White as
that of Europaean Bodyes. And the like
has been affirmed to me by a Physician of our own,
whom, hearing he had Dissectcd a Negroe here
in England, I consulted about this particular.
The other thing to be here taken notice of concerning
Negroes is, That having enquir’d of an
Intelligent acquaintance of mine (who keeps in the
Indies about 300. of them as well Women as
Men to work in his Plantations,) whether their Children
come Black into the world; he answer’d, That
they did not, but were brought forth of almost the
like Reddish Colour with our European Children;
and having further enquir’d, how long it was
before these Infants appear’d Black, be reply’d,
that ’twas not wont to be many daies. And
agreeable to this account I find that, given us in
a freshly publish’d French Book written by a
Jesuit, that had good opportunity of Knowing