White monkeys and white
roosters are also worshiped. In the Natural History Museum in London
there are stuffed examples of albinism and melanism in the lower
animals.

Melanism is an anomaly, the exact contrary of the preceding. It is
characterized by the presence in the tissues and skin of an excessive
amount of pigment. True total melanism is unknown in man, in whom is
only observed partial melanism, characterized simply by a pronounced
coloration of part of the integument.

Some curious instances have been related of an infant with a
two-colored face, and of others with one side of the face white and the
other black; whether they were cases of partial albinism or partial
melanism cannot be ascertained from the descriptions.

Such epidermic anomalies as ichthyosis, scleroderma, and molluscum
simplex, sometimes appearing shortly after birth, but generally seen
later in life, will be spoken of in the chapter on Anomalous Skin
Diseases.

Human horns are anomalous outgrowths from the skin and are far more
frequent than ordinarily supposed. Nearly all the older writers cite
examples. Aldrovandus, Amatus Lusitanus, Boerhaave, Dupre, Schenck,
Riverius, Vallisneri, and many others mention horns on the head. In the
ancient times horns were symbolic of wisdom and power. Michael Angelo
in his famous sculpture of Moses has given the patriarch a pair of
horns. Rhodius observed a Benedictine monk who had a pair of horns and
who was addicted to rumination. Fabricius saw a man with horns on his
head, whose son ruminated; the son considered that by virtue of his
ruminating characteristics his father had transmitted to him the
peculiar anomaly of the family. Fabricius Hildanus saw a patient with
horns all over the body and another with horns on the forehead.
Gastaher speaks of a horn from the left temple; Zacutus Lusitanus saw a
horn from the heel; Wroe, one of considerable length from the scapula;
Cosnard, one from the bregma; the Ephemerides, from the foot; Borellus,
from the face and foot, and Ash, horns all over the body. Home, Cooper,
and Treves have collected examples of horns, and there is one 11 inches
long and 2 1/2 in circumference in a London museum. Lozes collected
reports of 71 cases of horns,--37 in females, 31 in males, and three in
infants. Of this number, 15 were on the head, eight on the face, 18 on
the lower extremities, eight on the trunk, and three on the glans
penis. Wilson collected reports of 90 cases,--44