Baillie, Matthew (1761–1823)

Scottish anatomist and physician. His Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body, 1793 (atlas 1802), is a landmark in the history of pathology and the first great work on the subject written in English. From 1810 until his death, he was physician to the royal family.

Baillie was born at Shotts, Lanarkshire, a nephew of the renowned surgeons John and William Hunter. He was educated at Glasgow and Oxford, gained the degree of MB in 1786, and was appointed physician to St George's Hospital in 1787. He gave the first accurate definitions of cirrhosis of the liver and of hepatization in lobar pneumonia, and provided excellent descriptions of renal cysts, typhoid and gastric ulcers.