Plants and flowers are used as symbols in the Hebrew Bible, particularly of love and lovers in the Song of Songs, as an emblem for the Israelite people and for the coming Messiah. In Western Culture, William Shakespeare ascribed emblematic meanings to flowers, especially in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Interest in floriography soared in Victorian England and in the United States during the 19th century.
Albinism (AL-bi-niz-im) is a disorder that occurs when a person inherits various genes * that are defective in their ability to make the pigment melanin (MEL-a-nin). Melanin is the main substance that determines a person's skin, hair, and eye color. In the United States, albinism affects approximately 1 in 17,000 people. * genes are chemicals in the body that help determine a person's characteristics, such as hair or eye color.
Albinism is a genetic condition where people are born without the usual pigment (color) in their bodies. Their bodies aren't able to make a normal amount of melanin, the chemical that is responsible for eye, skin, and hair color. So most people with albinism have very pale skin, hair, and eyes. Albinism can affect people of all races, and there are different kinds of albinism. Some people with a condition called oculocutaneous albinism have extremely pale skin and eyes, and white hair. Others with this same type of albinism might have slightly more color in their hair, eyes, or skin. For some people, albinism affects only their eyes. This is known as ocular albinism. People with ocular albinism usually have blue eyes. In some cases, the iris (the colored part of the eye) has very little color so a person's eyes might look pink or reddish.