"Thomas Holmes" Selbit

I did a bit of digging on Thomas Holmes Selbit to see what I could find. Curiously, not much came up. I did find two related searches which might be significant.

Thomas Holmes was an embalmer during the Civil War. Wikipedia says that mercury, arsenic, and zinc were used to embalm bodies. Apparently, he went insane at the end of his life. Reminds me of that phrase "mad as a hatter", where hat makers would go insane from mercury poisoning. Holmes was a pioneer in the study of Phrenology.

Phrenology Chart from the Late 1800's.

Then there was a P.T. Selbit. He was apparently the guy who invented the magic trick where you saw a lady in half. He also had a trick called "Mighty Cheese". I hope he handed out gas masks!

Poster from 1920