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Joshua Brookes

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Joshua Brookes
Joshua Brookes, by Thomas Phillips, 1815
Born(1761-11-24)24 November 1761
Died10 January 1833(1833-01-10) (aged 71)
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)British anatomist and naturalist
Known forFellow of the Royal Society

Joshua Brookes (24 November 1761 – 10 January 1833) was a British anatomist and naturalist.

Early life

Brookes studied under William Hunter, William Hewson, Andrew Marshall, and John Sheldon, in London. He then attended the practice of Antoine Portal and other eminent surgeons at the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris.[1]

Brookesian Museum

Brookes became a teacher of anatomy in London, and the founder of the Brookesian Museum of Comparative Anatomy. This private museum is described in the 1830 catalogue Museum Brookesianum.[2]

Later life

Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1819, Brookes gave up teaching in 1826, in bad health. After vainly endeavouring to dispose of his museum collection entire, he sold it off piecemeal. The final sale took place on 1 March 1830, and on 22 following days. He died on 10 January 1833 in Great Portland Street, London.[1]

Works

Brookes was the first to place the Cheetah in its own genus, which he established in 1828 as Acinonyx.

His published writings included:[1]

  • Lectures on the Anatomy of the Ostrich (The Lancet, vol. xii.);
  • Brookesian Museum, 1827;
  • Catalogue of Zootomical Collection, 1828;
  • Address to the Zoological Club of the Linnean Society, 1828;
  • Thoughts on Cholera, 1831, proposing hygienic and sanitary precautions; and
  • a description of a new genus of Rodentia (Trans. Linn. Soc., 1829).

Legacy

The generic name, Brookesia, is in honor of Joshua Brookes.[3]

References

  • Dobson, J. (1952) Eighteenth Century Anatomists: Joshua Brookes, Practitioner, 180-4.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1886). "Brookes, Joshua (1761-1833)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 6. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ Museum Brookesianum : a descriptive and historical catalogue of the remainder of the anatomical & zootomical museum, of Joshua Brookes, Esq. F.R.S. F.L.S. F.Z.S. &c. [London] : Printed by Richard Taylor. 1830. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Brookes", p. 40).
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainStephen, Leslie, ed. (1886). "Brookes, Joshua (1761-1833)". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 6. London: Smith, Elder & Co.