Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/703

NAME LARSH 681 LATHAM Meigs, Bache, Condie, Coates, Bell and La Roche, and later Dr. Bond and Dr. S. H. Dickson. From the beginning Dr. La Roche was an assiduous writer on medical topics for current journals, and at his death left copious manuscripts upon music, of which he was a devoted lover. His collection of musical works was very extensive and ultimately found its way into the collection of J. W. Drexel. As an active member of the College of Phy- sicians, an original member and president of the Pathological Society, a member of the board of health, president of the state and county medical societies, and a trustee of the University, Dr. La Roche served the cause of medicine. He practised for over fifty years and died December 9, 1872, at the age of sev- enty-seven. His chief work was a treatise on yellow fever (18SS). Of this Dr. S. D. Gross said in his History of American Medical Litera- ture in 1876 : "As a work of profound erudi- tion, at once complete and exhaustive, written in a scholarly style, and evincing the most pa- tient and extraordinary research, the mono- graph on yellow fever, by Dr. La Roche, is without a rival in any language." In writing this work he collected a great library on yel- low fever embracing the literature of all coun- tries. Dr. Gross has this to say, in his autobiogra- phy, of La Roche's personal characteristics : "Dr. La Roche had an expressive and intel- lectual countenance, a handsome eye, and a good forehead, although his head was not very large. His highly organized and well-balanced brain enabled him to perform a vast amount of labor." In his physique he "was so fragile that it seemed as if a heavy wind might read- ily blow him over" ... "I knew La Roche personally for more than a third of a century, a part of this time intimately, and during all the period he retained this attenuated form." "He was a charming conversationalisV, always instructive, and free from affectation and ped- antry. He was a great reader of light litera- ture, was well informed respecting passing events, and could talk well upon almost any subject." Med. Times, Phila, 1872-73, vol. iii, 445-446. Med. & Surg. Reporter, Phila., 1873, vol. xxviii, 25. Autobiog., S. D. Gross, M.D., Phila., 1893, vol. ii, 374-377. Hist. Med. Profess, of Phila., F. P. Henry, Chicago, 1897. Lar.h, N. B. (1835-1887) N. B. Larsh, of Nebraska City, Nebraska, was one of the medical pioneers of the state. In 1859 he came to Nebraska City and became at once a factor in the affairs of his city and state as well as in the medical profession. In 1868 he was one of those who organized the Nebraska State Medical Society; in 1870, 71 and 72 he was superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Lincoln; and in 1872 became president of the State Medical Society. That he continued active in both public and professional affairs is evidenced by the fact that death (on December 22, 1887) was due to an acute congestive disturbance following se- vere exposure while on a professional call and that at the time he was mayor of Ne- braska City. Larsh was of French parentage and was born January 6, 1835, at Eaton, Ohio. He at- tended Antioch College, Ohio, and received his M. D. from Miami Medical College in 1857. After spending a short time in Palestine, Ohio, he came to Nebraska City in 1859 where on December 2, 1859, he married Ella S. Arm- strong. Dr. Larsh was one of the most active mem- bers of the State Medical Society in its early days. He signed the original constitution as a delegate from Otoe County and was elected president in 1870. He contributed at this meeting a paper reporting a case of pyemia. At the meeting in 1871 in Lincoln he presided and also read a paper reporting a gunshot wound of the abdomen. H. Win NEXT Orr. Report of the Committee on Necrology of the Nebraska State Medical Society, 1888. The Hist, of Nebraska. Proc. Nebraska State Med. Soc, Omaha, 1888. Latham, Henry Grey (1831-1903) Latham was the son of Dr. Henry Latham of Lynchburg, Virginia, being born in that city March 4, 1831. His father was a physician, and both he and his son had the honor of being chosen president of the State Medical Society. Educated in private schools at Lynchburg and the LTniversity of Virginia ; he studied medicine in the University, graduating in 1851, and did hospital work in Richmond, Baltimore and Philadelphia. He then settled in his native town. He was a member of the Medical Society of Virginia, and elected president in 1891 ; an honorary fellow in 1892. Before studying medicine he was engaged for a time in engineering, being one of the corps of engineers who laid out the route of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. At the beginning of the Civil War he organized the Latham Battery, and in many battles of the