Holt

knowledge of disease in children. In 1884, dur-
ing three months' travel abroad, he obtained his
first glimpse of European medicine. In 1886 he
married Linda F. Mairs of New York City. Five
children were born from this marriage.

The Babies Hospital of New York City, the
first in this country to be devoted to children, was
founded in 1887, and the following year Holt
was selected to take charge of it Under his
leadership the hospital grew and became inter-
nationally known. It was, medically speaking,
his creation. In 1890, when he was appointed
professor in the newly established chair of dis-
eases of children at the New York Polyclinic, he
entered into the most productive period of his
life. For the instruction of the nurses (nursery
maids) of the Babies Hospital, he devised a cate-
chism of twenty-three questions which was pub-
lished in 1893 and was amplified the following
year, for the use of the mother in the home, into
a book of sixty-six pages entitled The Care and
Feeding of Children (1894). The success of this
book was unparalleled in medical publication; it
ran through more than seventy-five printings,
was translated into three languages, and made
Holt's name a household word Two years later,
1896, appeared The Diseases of Infancy and
Childhood, a textbook on pediatrics which be-
came the standard in the English language and
has so remained through twelve editions. In this
volume he defined and coordinated pediatrics,
separated it as a specialty from internal medi-
cine, and placed the subject on a high plane of
excellence. He furnished for the first time in
any language a clear, well balanced, complete
exposition of the infant in health and disease and
of the principles of feeding and care. In 1901
Holt resigned from the New York Polyclinic to
take the chair of pediatrics established for him
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, a post
which he held until 1921. In his later years he
became more and more interested and active in
the social aspects of pediatrics. In 1919 he was
asked as a delegate to attend the International
Medical Conference at Cannes called by the Red
Cross Societies of the Allied Powers. In Au-
gust 1923, he left for China to become for a year
visiting professor of pediatrics at the Peking
Union Medical College. There he died suddenly
on Jan. 14,1924.

A man of dynamic personality, he was one of
the founders of the American Pediatric Society
and twice its president (1898 and 1923), a fel-
low, treasurer, and vice-president of the New
York Academy of Medicine, a director of the
Henry Street Settlement, a founder and editor of
the 4mriwn Journal, of Diseases of Children, a

I

Holten

member of the National Child Labor Committee,
of the Advisory Board of the New York City
Health Department, and of the Advisory Coun-
cil of the Milbank Memorial Fund, one of the
founders and later president of the Child Health
Association, and vice-president of the American
Child Health Association. He was one of the
advisers called by John D. Rockefeller in con-
nection with the founding of the Rockefeller In-
stitute for Medical Research, and was a member
of the original Board of Directors. The influ-
ence which he exerted toward the improvement
in the milk supply, the reduction of summer
diarrhea and of infant mortality, cannot be over-
estimated. A master in the art of private prac-
tice, he found great satisfaction in it and
believed it essential for the best clinical develop-
ment. A teacher by nature, he felt keenly his
obligation to prepare the student for the daily
demands of office and bedside. He habitually
chose, therefore, as subjects for his lectures and
clinics—which were models of thoroughness,
clear analysis and concise expression—the com-
mon, often seemingly trivial, diseases and con-
ditions. Through his unconscious example he
succeeded to an unusual degree in inculcating his
own highly developed, intelligent methods of
work, characterized by system, precision, and
thoroughness. He made several notable address-
es and wrote many articles of importance on a
variety of medical subjects, but his most valu-
able contributions were the two books already
mentioned. His great achievement was as an
educator. Osier alone in the United States ex-
erted a comparable influence.

[Jour. Am. Medic. Asso.{ Jan. 26, 1924; V. P. Gib-
ney, in Archives of Pediatrics, Jan. 1924; Am. Jour, of

Burrage, .
Am. Medic. Biog. (1928); Who's Who m America,
1922-23 ; unpublished address by H. L. K. Shaw at the
Memorial Meeting for Dr. Holt, N. Y. Acad. of Medi-
cine, Mar. 12, 1924; D. S. Durrie, A Geneal. Hist, of
the Holt Family in the U. S. (1864); John Shrady,
The Coll of Physicians and Surgeons, N. Y. (n.d.),
vol. II; N. Y. Times, Jan. 15,16,1924.] £. A, P.
HOLTEN, SAMUEL (June 9, i73&-Jan. 2,
1816), physician, Massachusetts public official,
was born in Salem Village, shortly to become
Danvers, Mass. His parents, Samuel and Han-
nah (Gardner) Holten, were both descended
from early settlers of the region, the father from
Joseph Holten, freeman of Salem Village in
1690. His parents at first planned to give the
boy a collegiate education, but the work of prep-
aration proved too great a strain upon his health
and he was accordingly dedicated to the sup-
posedly less arduous profession of medicine. Dr.
Jonathan Prince, a local practitioner, becajne fai§