Dr. Edward Lorenzo Holmes, who
for thirty-five years was a member of this Society, died of
pneumonia in Chicago, February 12, 1900, at the age of 72 years. Dr.
Holmes was born January 28, 1828, at Dedham, Mass., was graduated
from Harvard College at the age of 21, and then taught in the Latin
School of Roxbury, Mass. He graduated from the medical department of
Harvard in 1854, after which he served as interne in the
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He spent one year at the
University of Vienna, and then went to Chicago, where he entered
into the practice of ophthalmology and otology. He at once became
associated, in that city, with the pioneers of the medical
profession and took an active interest in the advancement of its
institutions and the promotion of its principles. To the movement
begun by him in 1858 the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary
owes its foundation. He was deeply interested in its welfare and
until his resignation very recently was at the head of its medical
and surgical staff. He aided actively in the foundation of the
Presbyterian Hospital in 1883, and was for a considerable time one
of the attending surgeons for the treatment of diseases of the eye
and ear.
In 1860, Dr. Holmes became
lecturer on Ophthalmology and Otology in Rush Medical College, and
was elected to a full professorship in 1867. In 1890 he succeeded
Dr. J. Adams Allen as President of the College, a position which he
held until his 70th birthday, Jan. 28, 1898, when he resigned from
the faculty.
He was also a trustee of Lake
Forest University, director in the Central Free Dispensary, Chicago,
and a member of a number of medical societies of Chicago and of this
country.
He was almost the pioneer of
ophthalmology in the west, and did much by his sound practice and
teaching to promote its truths. While not a prolific writer, he was
a thoughtful one,
whose influence was wider than that of many who write much. As a
practitioner he was exceptionally proficient and skillful, and this
together with his warm sympathy made him highly respected and
greatly beloved, not only by his patients, but by all with whom he
was associated.
