In 1774 he published a paper describing a case of extensive surgical emphysema which, after consulting with Alexander Monro secundus, he had successfully treated by inserting of a cannula into the thoracic cavity.
[5] During this naval service he published papers in the form of letters to his father ‘Mr Kellie, surgeon, Leith’.
A letter to Edinburgh Medical Commentaries dated 21 May 1794 show that he is now surgeon on HMS Iris, a 32 gun, fifth rate frigate.
[14][15] In the paper which was to give Kellie lasting eponymous fame he describes the post mortem appearances in the bodies of two individuals found dead after lying outside after a storm.
He concluded 'When the cavity of the cranium is encroached upon by depression of its walls compensation may be made at the expense of circulatory fluid within the head; less blood is admitted and circulated'.
Monro had stated that since the healthy cranial cavity is rigid and of constant volume and the brain 'is nearly incompressible, the quantity of blood within the head must remain the same'.
[17] Later in the paper Kellie described how Monro, aware of his interest, invited him jointly to examine the brains of executed criminals and sent him descriptions of autopsy findings in other similar cases.
His authoritative book Pathological and Practical Researches on Disease of the Brain and Spinal Cord first published in 1828 was a milestone in neuropathology which ran to three British, two American and French and German editions.
The English physician Dr (later Sir) George Burrows (1801–1887) later tested the hypothesis with CSF included in the equation.
[20] The development of techniques to measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) and intracranial pressure (ICP) have allowed more sophisticated testing of the doctrine and shown that the hypothesis formulated by Monro, Kellie and Abercrombie still holds good.