约翰·爱德华兹·霍尔布鲁克

1796 - 1871 American

北美两栖爬行动物学先驱

约翰·爱德华兹·霍尔布鲁克是一位美国动物学家、爬行动物学家、医师和博物学家，出生于南卡罗来纳州博福特，是教师西拉斯·霍尔布鲁克和玛丽·爱德华兹的儿子。尽管霍尔布鲁克的回忆录（由其医学合作伙伴撰写）及其墓碑均将其出生年份记为1794年，但这是不正确的。霍尔布鲁克于1815年获得布朗大学的文学士学位，并于1818年获得宾夕法尼亚大学的医学博士学位。1827年，他娶了哈里奥特·平克尼·拉特利奇（1802–1863），她是约翰·拉特利奇的孙女，也是米德尔顿-拉特利奇-平克尼家族的成员。 他在其著作《北美爬虫学；或，对美国境内爬行动物的描述》的两个版本中，提供了关于北美两栖动物和爬行动物的首部综合性插图记录。第一版共四卷（1836–1840年）极为罕见，因为霍尔布鲁克因彩色图版受到不利批评，曾试图在后院的篝火中销毁所有副本。由于其稀有性，第一版已被生物多样性遗产图书馆数字化并免费提供。第二版共五卷（1842年）更受好评，至今仍是重要的基准参考著作。他在这些著作中描述的新物种包括棕色水蛇（Nerodia taxispilota）、布朗蛇（Storeria dekayi）和饰纹合唱蛙（Pseudacris ornata）。 东部铲足蟾（Scaphiopus holbrookii）、无耳蜥属（Holbrookia）、斑点王蛇（Lampropeltis getula holbrooki）和斑尾平鲷（Diplodus holbrookii）均以他的名字命名，以示纪念。 同样在19世纪40年代，在南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿，一位名叫约翰·爱德华兹·霍尔布鲁克的医师，在其巨著《北美爬虫两栖动物学》即将完成之际，继续保持着对鱼类的兴趣，这最终促成了插图精美的《南卡罗来纳州鱼类》一书的出版。 霍尔布鲁克于1845年当选为美国艺术与科学院副院士。1855年，他开始分册出版《南卡罗来纳州鱼类志》，共发行了十册，随后因费城 The delay in the publication of the work has, however, enabled me to give more accurate and highly finished plates, and to correct some errors in the letter press. As but few numbers of the work were distributed previous to the destruction of the original plates, &c, and the present edition is so much improved, I have decided to recall the former numbers and to replace them by those of the new edition. " Thus an entirely new work was published. The artistic efforts of Richard were superseded by the superior results of Ibbotson and Sonrel, both excellent artists trained under Agassiz, and T. Sinclair's lithographic establishment of Philadelphia was selected for reproducing the illustrations instead of Tappan & Bradford's of Boston the printing was done by Welch, Bigelow and Company, of Cambridge, in place of Metcalf and Company, and the publishers were "Russell & Jones," in succession to "John Russell," of Charleston, S. C." He was eccentric in several ways. "One of his eccentricities was followed by a remarkable result. A young waitingman about the house was very liable to fainting fits. In brushing flies at the table he would often exclaim, ' I am going to faint,' and would, if not assisted, fall down in a swoon. The Doctor one day, whilst dissecting the digestive apparatus of a young alligator, called this boy to hold the parts for him, so as to keep the fibers stretched. Just as the Doctor was most interested in tracing some minute muscular fibers, the boy cried out, ' I am going to faint,' and altered the position of his hand, and thus interrupted the dissection at a most important point. The Doctor immediately gave him a sharp slap on the side of his head, saying, ' Well, go faint then, and come back quickly.' The boy did as he was bid, and never fainted after this. He said he ' was cured by holding the alligator.' " 1863年，他的妻子去世，他变得无子嗣且孤身一人。当联邦军队占领查尔斯顿时，收藏其藏品的医学院被征用为医院，他的标本被肆意丢弃或因其所谓价值而被抢占；他的书籍被盗，最终他的绘图和手稿也遗失或被毁。如今他已是一位老人，失去了大部分财产，因逆境而气馁，并认识到新的科学程序秩序已经开始，他不情愿地甚至不再规划自己的工作。然而，他继续在夏季前往新英格兰，那里曾度过他快乐的青年时代。霍尔布鲁克于1839年当选为美国哲学学会会员，并于1868年当选为国家科学院院士。1871年初秋（9月8日），他因中风发作，在马萨诸塞州诺福克的姐姐家中走到了生命的尽头，"在亲切而挚爱的亲属环绕中咽下最后一口气"。 霍尔布鲁克于1871年9月8日在马萨诸塞州去世，葬于南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿的木兰公墓。