married. He is buried with his grandfather, George Combe, brewer (d. 1816) in St Cuthberts Churchyard. The grave is located on the south side of the "Bairn's Knowe" behind the older stones, and backing onto the former church halls. His biography, written by his brother, was published in 1850. Criticism of vegetarianism Combe criticised vegetarianism and the dieting ideas of William Alcott and Sylvester Graham. In his book The Physiology of Digestion he commented that "the arguments of Mr Graham and Dr Alcott in favour of exclusive vegetable diet, are not based on sound physiological principles, and the broad assertions which they make of the superior strength of vegetable-eating savages in comparison with civilised Europeans, rest on insufficient evidence, and are not supported by the experience of trustworthy observers." Combe denied that Isaac Newton was a strict vegetarian and noted that "he did not usually confine himself to a vegetable diet." Selected publications The Principles of Physiology Applied to the Preservation of Health (1839) The Universal Guide to Health (1849) The Physiology of Digestion, Considered with Relation to the Principles of Dietetics (with James Coxe, 1860) See also Phrenology References 1797 births 1847 deaths Academic journal editors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Critics of vegetarianism Dietitians Mental health professionals People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Medical doctors from Edinburgh Phrenologists Scottish anatomists Scottish medical writers Scottish physiologists University of Paris alumni British expatriates in France