Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-03
FABRICATED CUTICLE.

JGFntG. the writer 1OuUu UlulselA III lAF
of George f. Norton, me
janitor of several business offices on sdont-
gomery street, near Market. Norton is
slightly on the shady side of 30, is intelli-
gent, a good cOnversationalist, and was
a handsome muiatto, possessing
a dark-yellOw skin. Now he is pinto, pie
bald, or calico in hue, applying the terms
as they are used in describing horses.
The upper half Of mis- forehead is perfectly
white. So is his entire scalp. His fingers
are white, the major portions of both arms
are of similar color, and his chest and
other portions Of his body have acquired
the same transparency. Under his chm
is a streak Of white extending from ear 10
ear, and on his cheeks and throat are
rregularly-sCattered spots of white, rang
ing in size from a silver half-dime TO a
half-dOllar. Norton is very sensitive re-
garding his notified appearance, and con-
siderable diplomacy was required to
extract any conversation on the subject
whatever. His interviewer finally broach-
ed the topic by Inquiring if he had been
applying iodine to his face. mo, SIR"
said Norton, hesitatingly, ''that's nat
ural." A little surprise, judiciOusly
mixed with kindly interest, had the de-
sired effect, and soon the janitor was chat
ting pleasantly about his ANNOYANCE"
as he preferred terming it. The white
spots first made their appearance, he said,
some twenty years ago, when he came to
California from the South. At first the
transformation was noticeable in two or
three little dots on his throat. Then they
began to work downward, and in five years
his breast was nearly white. The transit
ton IN point of shade did not appear to be
gradual, although the eating away of the
color was very slow. Even now there is
no intermediate shade, the color line be-
ing as clear cut and well defined as if
drawn with pencil. The transformation
caused Norton some little uneaSiness at
first, but, as he felt no unusual sensations
and retained his good health, he paid no
more attention to it than to watch the de-
parture of his natural color. When the
spots began to appear on his face and
hands they caused him some ANNOYANCE
on account of the comment of people with
whom ne was thrown in contact, and he
applied to several physicians for some
agent to hold the spread in check. All
agreed that the change was not hurtful,
and the majority advised him to pay no
attention TO 1t. Norton insisted. however
and tried several prescriptions without
avail, until 1881, when DR.. Hyams, since
deceased, gave him an application that
prevented any further spread tor nearly
two years Then Norton obtained a stu
StIeHI
bank, and the change in his mode Of liV-
ing seemed to start the color of his con-
sumption once more, and it has gone on
steadily ever since, until now over one
half OF tbs cuticle is pure white. To the
touch there is no perceptible difference
between the white and black skin, and
when the transformation is complete no
living human being will possess a finer
complexion than Norton. Barring his
arms and throat, he permitted the re-
porter close inspection of the cuticle
that aad already undergone the change,
and, at the conclusion Of his examination,
the reporter almost envied him its possess
sion. No athlete in the pink of condition
could present a finer condition than does
Norton where he has changed from black
to white. The skin is of satin smooth
ness and gloss, and is clearer, more trans
parent, and has a more healthy look about
it chan that of 500 men in a 900. 1t is
wonderfully white, and SO clear that when
he bends his arm every motion of the
muscles can be distinguished beneath it,
Els skin is simply beautiful, and there
are few ladies who would not be glad to
make the exchange, including the added
charm of the blue veins, as they make sin
LOus breaks in the marble surface Norton
says that he has not had a sick day in
twenty years, Notwithstanding that he is
OF an exceedingly nervous disposition and
has had great deal Of trouble. He thinks
that the strange phenomenon is due to his
nervousness in part, and that it is partly
attributable to causes hereditary, His
mother, who is still alive, has several
white spots on her lower limbs of various
sizes. none exceeding an inch in diane
ter, but they have been there ever since
she can remember, without either increas-
ing or decreasing in size. Norton stated
during the chat that he still did not des-
pair Of etfecting a sudden and complete
change to either white or black. and that
he was now occasionally visiting Dr.
James Murphy, who has an Office adjoin-
ing that of DR.. Stanton, who was the re-
pOrter's original informant.
On leaving him, therefore. the writer
called on tie doctor and asked for a dis
sertation on the battle between white and
black. DR.. Murphy pronounced such a
transition as Norton IS now engaged in
undergoing extremely rare in the par
ticular form in which Norton is
afflicted, and added that Che case is one
of the most perfect of its kind ever
brought to the attention of science.
Medical writers of prominence have vari-
Ously treated of it as leucOpathia, Ieueo-
derma, albinism, leucasmus figuratus,
partial albinismus and achrOma. Rayer
in one of the most lucid papers on the sub
ject, say that the transition is due to a
deficiency in the cOlOring matter in the
blood cOrpUscles Of the skin. His defni-
ton Of leucOpathia is a general or partial,
cOngenital or accidental colOrless state of
the skin, arising from absence or defclen-
cy OF the plgmentum and cOlOIing matter
OF the hair. "Rayer says continued the
doctor, after consulting a formidable
looking volume, ''tbat general accidental
leucopathia is never observed except in
negroes. Whites OF dark complexion may
be bieached by absence from light, bat
their whiteness cannot be classed with
either leucOpathia or albinIsm. Acct
dental partial leucopathia-like the
bleaching of the hair al an early age or
the appearance Of white spOts-is gener-
ally the result of some mental emOtiCn.|
THAT Is what Rayer says on the sub
Ject,' concluded the doctor, as he closed
the book, land he adds that leucOpathia
can scarcely be classed as a skin disease,
because there is no disease noticeable,
lie cites several cases where the trans
formation was more or less marked, the
most complete of which is that of a negro
who was burned by a lot of boiling sugar
Wherever the hot stuff reached him a
white spot was left, and these gradually
increased in size until his entire body
was white"
Reaching for another volume, DIR. Muir
ply resumed, after a moments study:
''Iilbury Fox, the great English physi-
this change in color that it is leucO-
deTma when the pigment is deficient and
the transition is from black to white, and
that it is melanoderma when the pigment
is in excess and the change is from white
to black. He claims that treatment is
sometimes successful, and should consist
Of t0nics, residence in a cool locality, cor
recting any possible i'll effects of malarial
poison, friction, iodine applications and
cold baths. Neither of these writer's ap- /
pear to have had any opportunity for
observation OF the phenOme-
non. and in one instance, at least, the |
sayings are selfcOnfessedly based on the
of others. This is not at
all astonishing, however, for such cases
are very rare. This is the only one have !
ever met with"
''What is your opinion, doctor?" asked !
the reporter.
"Well, it is hard to say. OF the fact |
that the change is due to a deficiency in |
the pigment of the skin there is no doubt, |
but the causes leading to the deficiency |
are puzzle. / have an idea, created by |
close investigation, that the change is |
almost as much a psychological phenOme- |
non as a physiological one. The change |
in all its completeness seems confined eX- |
to crosses between the light and |
races, and cases of it in peo- !
pie who are not mulattoes are extremely |