Anomalies and Curiosities of MedicineGould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Science
Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
Gould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Abnormalities, Human; Medicine -- Anecdotes
"We might expect from the foregoing account of telegony amongst animals
that whenever a black woman had a child to a white man, and then
married a black man, her subsequent children would not be entirely
black. Dr. Robert Balfour of Surinam in 1851 wrote to Harvey that he
was continually noticing amongst the colored population of Surinam
'that if a negress had a child or children by a white, and afterward
fruitful intercourse with a negro, the latter offspring had generally a
lighter color than the parents.' But, as far as I know, this is the
only instance of this observation on record. Herbert Spencer has shown
that when a pure-bred animal breeds with an animal of a mixed breed,
the offspring resembles much more closely the parent of pure blood, and
this may explain why the circumstance recorded by Balfour has been so
seldom noted. For a negro, who is of very pure blood, will naturally
have a stronger influence on the subsequent progeny than an
Anglo-Saxon, who comes of a mixed stock. If this be the correct
explanation, we should expect that when a white woman married first a
black man, and then a white, the children by the white husband would be
dark colored. Unfortunately for the proof of telegony, it is very rare
that a white woman does marry a black man, and then have a white as
second husband; nevertheless, we have a fair number of recorded
instances of dark-colored children being born in the above way of white
parents.
"Dr. Harvey mentions a case in which 'a young woman, residing in
Edinburgh, and born of white (Scottish) parents, but whose mother, some
time previous to her marriage, had a natural (mulatto) child by a negro
man-servant in Edinburgh, exhibits distinct traces of the negro. Dr.
Simpson--afterward Sir James Simpson--whose patient the young woman at
one time was, has had no recent opportunities of satisfying himself as
to the precise extent to which the negro character prevails in her
features; but he recollects being struck with the resemblance, and
noticed particularly that the hair had the qualities characteristic of
the negro.' Herbert Spencer got a letter from a 'distinguished
correspondent' in the United States, who said that children by white
parents had been 'repeatedly' observed to show traces of black blood
when the women had had previous connection with (i.e., a child by) a
negro. Dr. Youmans of New York interviewed several medical professors,
who said the above was 'generally accepted as a fact.' Prof. Austin
Flint, in 'A Text-book of Human Physiology,' mentioned this fact, and
when asked about it said: 'He had never heard the statement questioned.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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