HOLCOMBE 539 HOLE tance and Value" (1877). He delivered the centennial address of the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, in 1887. Dr. Holcombe died suddenly, March 17, 1904, in the Presbyterian Hospital, New York City, after a brief illness from a general breakdown due to old age. Med. News, 1904, vol. v. p. 84. Jour, Amer. Med. Assoc, vol xlii, March 26. 1904. Herringshaw's Nat. Lib. of Amer. Biog., vol. v, p. 3. Who's Who in Amer., 1903-5. Appleton's Cyclop, of Amer. Biog., 1887. Nat. Cyclop, of Amer. Biog., vol. iii, p. 314. Portrait. Holcombe, William Henry (1825-1893). William Henry Holcombe was born in Lynchb'urg, Virginia, May 29, 1825. His grand- father was the distinguished soldier. Colonel Philemon Holcombe, who ran away from col- lege to join Harry Lee's regiment, and acted as aid-de-camp to Lafayette at the siege of Yorktown. His father was William J. Hol- combe, M. D., and a brother, James Philemon Holcombe, was a distingxiished lawyer and le- gal writer. The subject of our sketch went to Washing- ton College (now Washington and Lee Univer- sity) for one year, and at the end of that time his parents liberated their negroes, and re- jected a property in negroes willed to them by a relative. They moved to Madison. Wiscon- sin, so the boy, instead of his intended course at Yale University, went to work on a farm. However, he studied with his father, and later entered the University of Pennsylvania and graduated M. D. in 1847 with a thesis on the "Function of Locomotion." He practised three years in Madison, then moved to Cincinnati (1850-18.^2); then to Natchez, Mississippi (1852-1855), and to Waterproof, Louisiana, re- turning to Natchez in 1862, finally to New Orleans, Louisiana, which remained his home. Holcombe became a convert to Swedenborg and wrote much on the subject; also he was an enthusiast on homeopathy, and was presi- dent of the American Institute of Homeopathy (1874-1875). His writings include: "Scien- tific Basis of Homeopathy (1852) ; "Our Chil- dren in Heaven" (1868); "The Sexes Here and Hereafter" (1869); "The Other Life" (1869) ; "Yellow Fever and Its Homeopathic Treatment" ; "The End of the World" ( 1881 ) ; "Condensed Thoughts about Christian Sci- ence" (3rd edition, 1887). In 1852 he married Rebecca Palmer of Cin- cinnati, who was her husband's assistant in his work. Trans. Amer. Inst. Homoeop., Philadelphia, 1894. Holder, Joseph Bassett (1824-1888). Joseph Bassett Holder was perhaps the best known naturalist of his time, in New England. A son of Aaron L. and Rachel Bassett Holder, he was born at Lynn, Massachusetts, October 26, 1824, a descendant of Christopher Holder, who, in 1656, introduced the first Society of Friends into America. He studied medicine at Harvard, was the founder of the Lynn Nat- ural History Society, and early made collec- tions and lists of the fauna of Massachusetts. A voluminous writer, he was the author of a number of important books, and brought his ripe experience into play at the American Mu- seum of Natural History, New York City, entering into the work with all the ardor of his chief. Prof. A. S. Brickmore, and continu- ing there until his death in New York in 1888. He devoted the best years of his life to the arduous work of upbuilding and caring for the big collections which soon came to hand. He was serving as an army surgeon at Fort Monroe when asked to join Brickmore, and became assistant superintendent, and later curator of zoology. Dr. Holder was a friend of Louis Agassiz (q. v.) and Spencer A. Baird, and in 1859 went to Florida at the request of these naturalists to make a zoological survey of the outer reef. He lived at Fort Jefferson, or Tortugas, where he made many interesting discoveries regarding the growth of corals, and sent collections to various educational in- stitutions. His best known writings are "History of the North American Fauna" (1882); "History of the Atlantic Right Whales" (1883), and "The Living World" (1884). During the first few years Brickmore and Holder, with the assistance of Dr. Holder's son, carried on the entire work of the insti- tution. The son, Charles Frederick Holder (1851-1915), was a distinguished scientist and a delightful and prolific writer. From the New York Even. Post, April 29. 1911. Who's Who in America. Hole, John (1754-1813). John Hole was born in Virginia and read medicine with Dr. Fullerton. Responding to the first call for troops in the Revolutionary War he went with the Virginia militia to the general camp near Boston, was commissioned surgeon's mate in the Continental Army, and continued in active service until the close of the war. He fought at Bunker Hill, and was pres- ent when Washington assumed command of the army. Dr. Hole was on the medical staff of Gen. Montgomery when the General fell
