BRODIE, SIR BENJAMIN COLLINS, 1ST BARONET

born June 8, 1783, Winterslow, Wiltshire, Eng. died Oct. 21, 1862, Broome Park, Surrey British physiologist and surgeon whose name is applied to certain diseases of the bones and joints. Brodie was assistant surgeon at St. George's Hospital for 14 years. In 1810 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. Probably his most important work is Pathological and Surgical Observations on the Diseases of the Joints (1818), in which he attempts to trace the beginnings of disease in the different tissues that form a joint and to give an exact value to the symptom of pain as evidence of organic disease. This volume led to conservative measures in the treatment of diseases of the joints, with consequent reduction in the number of amputations and the saving of many limbs and lives. Brodie was created a baronet in 1834 and was the first president of the General Medical Council.