Abstract
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays is an archetype of modern science: a lone research worker in an esoteric field, observation of a phenomenon others had missed, feverish weeks of experimentation, a rush to publication, the enormous potential for applications beyond the narrow sphere in which the discovery originated, and consequent widespread public enthusiasm. But science had little to offer when it came to medical applications. They nevertheless developed rapidly between 1896 and 1900. X-ray protection was a minor concern, despite known biological effects, including effects on the X-ray operators themselves. Change would come rapidly after 1900, due to the combined effect of laboratory experiments, clinical accidents, and public outcry. Measures to protect the patient and the operator would become routine, even if inadequate by today's criteria. Methods of measuring the quantity and quality of the rays would come into general use. Operators who tested hardness (quality) with their own hands would be considered foolhardy at best. Professional societies and journals would actively promote precautions. While far from the precision it was to acquire in the decades to follow, X-ray protection would by 1903 be a recognized problem for science, medicine, technology, and society. In sharp contrast, radium protection was still unknown.
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Notes
- 1.
For the historian of science, the classic telling of this story is Röntgen WC, Sarton G. The Discovery of X-Rays. Isis. 1937 Mar;26(2):349–69. Most of the details there and elsewhere come from Glasser O. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Early History of Röntgen Rays. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas; 1934, which for lack of other materials is usually treated as a primary source. A. Romer has briefly discussed the lack of reliable primary sources and the consequent limitations on writing the history of the discovery of X-rays in Romer A. Accident and Professor Röntgen. American Journal of Physics. 1959;27:275–7. A full, critical discussion of the sources with reprints of the original articles in English and German can be found in Klickstein HS. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen “On a New Kind of Rays”: A Bibliographical Study. Mallinckrodt Chemical Works; 1966. This excellent study is not readily available in even the best libraries. I am indebted to the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works for providing me with a copy. There are many variations on Sarton and Glasser, including Jauncey GEM. The Birth and Early Infancy of X-Rays. American Journal of Physics. 1945;13:362–79; Crane AW. The Research Trail of the X-Ray. In: Bruwer AJ, editor. Classic Descriptions in Diagnostic Röntgenology. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas; 1964; and Underwood EA. W. C. Röntgen and the Early Development of Radiology. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 1945;145(38):697–706. Nitske WR. The Life of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen: Discoverer of the X-Ray. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press; 1971 is derivative of Glasser, despite some embellishments. Not all the embellishments are accurate.
- 2.
Lenard P (Bonn, Physik. Inst. d. Univ.). Ueber Kathoden-strahlen Vom Atmosphärischen Druck Und Im Äussersten Vacuum. Ann Phys. 1894;51:225–67.
- 3.
Röntgen WC. Eine neue Art von Strahlen (Vorläufige Mitteilung). Sitzungsber Phys Med Ges. 1895;Würzburg:132–41, am 28 Dezember wurde als Beitrag eingereicht. Translations can be found in numerous places, including the following: Glasser, note 1, 16–28; Klickstein, ibid.; and Feather N. X-Rays and the Electric Conductivity of Gases. Alembic Club Reprint No 22. Edinburgh: E. and S. Livingstone; 1958.
- 4.
The initial popular craze in the United States, followed by “commodification” and “backlash,” is described in detail in Lavine M. The First Atomic Age. Palgrave MacMillan; 2013.
- 5.
For accounts of early techniques, see: Bruwer AJ. Classic Descriptions in Diagnostic Röntgenology. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas; 1964; Pizon P. La Radiologie En France, 1896–1904. Paris: l’Expansion Scientifique Française; 1970; Brecher R, Brecher E. The Rays: A History of Radiology in the United States and Canada. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins; 1969; Schinz HR. Sechzig Jahre Medizinische Radiologie: Probleme und Empirie. Stuttgart: Georg Thieme; 1959; Møller PF. History and Development of Radiology in Denmark, 1896–1950. Copenhagen: Nyt Nordisk Verlag-Arnold Busek; 1968. These references are but the cream of a vast retrospective literature, some of which is listed in the “Annotated ‘Radiohistoric’ Bibliography” in Grigg ERN. The Trail of Invisible Light. Springfield, Illinois: C. C. Thomas; 1965:822–64.
- 6.
For the meaning of bricolage and its relationship to science, see Lévi-Strauss C. The Savage Mind. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 1962:16–22. Tinkering and trial-and-error are close in meaning.
- 7.
Mink F. Zur Frage über die Einwirkung der Röntgensche Strahlen auf Bakterien und ihre ev. therapeutische Verwendbarkeit,. München Med Wschr. 1896 Feb 14;143:101–2 and March 3;202 and 3 March 1896;202; and Lyon TG (Senior Assistant Physician to the Victoria Park Chest Hospital). The Röntgen Rays as a Cure for Disease. Lancet. 74 (1 February 1896) 326 and (22 February 1896):513–4.
- 8.
The first report was probably Daniel J (Physical Laboratory at Vanderbilt University). The X-Rays. Science. 1896 Apr 10;562–3, signed 23 March 1896, but there was a flood of similar reports soon thereafter, see for example Marcuse. Dermatitis und Alopecie nach Durchleuchtungsversuchen mit Röntgenstrahlen. Deut Med Wschr. 1896 Jul 23;22:481–3. For other early reports, see Glasser O. First Observations on the Physiological Effects of Röntgen Rays on the Human Skin. American Journal of Physics. 1932;28:75–80.
- 9.
Freund L. Ein mit Röntgen-Strahlen behandelter Fall von Naevus pigmentosus piliferus. München Med Wschr. 1897 Mar 6;47:429–33, based on a lecture at the k. k. Gesellschaft der Aerzte in Wien on 15 January 1897, and Albers-Schönberg. Über die Behandlung des Lupus und des chronischen Ekzems mit Röntgenstrahlen. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1898;2:20–9.
- 10.
Albers-Schönberg, ibid., and an editorial, The Action of X-Rays on Microorganisms. Arch Rönt Ray. 1898;3(3):1–2. provide extensive references. Claims of unequivocal success in killing bacteria and in inhibiting their growth also helped to promote further efforts, see for example Rieder H. Wirkung der Röntgenstrahlen auf Bakterien. Munchen Med Wschr. 1898;45:101–4.
- 11.
See Sjögren T, Sederholm E. (Stockholm) Beitrag zur therapeutischen Verwertung der therapeutischen Verwertung der Röntgenstrahlen. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1900;4:145–70. where they claimed priority on the basis of a report to the Gesellschaft der schwedischen Ärzte on 19 December 1899.
- 12.
For an example of the comparison with the photographic plate, seeGocht. (Assistenzarzt, aus der chirurgischen Abteilung des Neuen allgemeinen Krankenhaus in Hamburg) Therapeutische Verwendung der Röntgenstrahlen. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1897;1:14–22. For an example of emphasis on trophoneurosis, see Albers-Schönberg, note 9.
- 13.
On the history of the Versammlungen der Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte, see Thomas RH. Liberalism, Nationalism and the German Intellectuals. Cambridge: W. Heffer; 1951.
- 14.
On the pulse theory, Wheaton BR. Impulse X-Rays and Radiant Intensity: The Double Edge of Analogy. Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences. 1981 Jan 1;11(2):367–90. Available from: https://doi.org/10.2307/27757484.
- 15.
For the Becquerel papers in translation, see Romer A. The Discovery of Radioactivity and Transmutation. New York: Dover; 1964. For the Curie papers in translation and a narrative account of this work, see Romer A. Radiochemistry and the Discovery of Isotopes. New York: Dover; 1970:63–75 and the Historical Essay:3–8. See also Badash L. Chance Favors the Prepared Mind: Henri Becquerel and the Discovery of Radioactivity. Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences. 1965;70:55–66.
- 16.
Becquerel H, Curie P. Actions Physiologiques Des Rayons Du Radium. Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences (Paris). 1901;132:1289–91. is the standard reference, but largely because of the fame of the authors. They were aware of Giesel F. Ueber radioaktiven Stoffe. Ber Deut Chem Ges. 1900;33:3569–71, received 7 December 1900, and of a report by Walkhoff in Photographische Rundschau (October 1900).
- 17.
Elster J, Geitel H. (Wolfenbüttl) Über die Radioaktivität der im Erdboden enthaltenen Luft. Phys Zeit. 1902;3. received 3 September 1902. See also Gerlach W. Johann Philipp Ludwig Julius Elster. In: Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; 1971:354–7.
- 18.
Campos LA. Radium and the Secret of Life. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press; 2016.
- 19.
For the development of the idea of transmutation, see the original papers and narrative in Romer (1964), note 15:86–150. For Marie Curie's original presentation of this theory, see her first article on Becquerel rays, “Rays Emitted by the Compounds of Uranium and Thorium” (originally “Rayons émis par les composés de l'uranium et du thorium”) Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences (Paris). 1898 Apr 12;126:1101–3. as translated in Romer, ibid.:65–8, especially 67–8. For the Curies continuing defense, see for example their “On Radioactive Substances” (originally “sur les corps radio-actifs,” Academy of Sciences (Paris). 1902 Jan 13;134:85–7. as translated in Romer, ibid.:121–3.
- 20.
See, for example, the generally favorable report by White JW. (M. D., Philadelphia) The Röntgen Rays in Surgery. Transactions of the American Surgical Association. 1897;15:59–88.
- 21.
Codman EA (Surgeon to Out Patients, Massachusetts General Hospital, Skiagrapher to Children’s Hospital). No Practical Danger from the X-ray. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. 1901;144:197.
- 22.
One retrospective account puts the cost of a minimal X-ray installation at 30 pounds sterling in 1896, see Holland CT. X-rays in 1896 in Bruwer AJ Ibid. Similar equipment in Germany cost about 600 marks, which was about the same amount, see the advertisement by the firm of Ferdinand Ernecke in Wunschmann, E. Die Röntgeschen X-Strah1en. Gemeinverständlich dargestellt. Berlin: F. Schmidt; 1896. as reproduced in Glasser, note 1, at 352. Screens for radioscopy, photographic plates, suitable furniture, and a reasonable number of tubes would more than double this minimum. The tube itself was negligible in cost; the induction coil was the most expensive component.
- 23.
The methodological distinction between the clinic and the laboratory appears, explicitly or implicitly, in many places. At the risk of attributing a distinction to authors who would not think it valid in the form in which I use it, I would cite the following sources: Bernard C. An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine tr. H. C. Greene. New York: Dover; 1957:9 and 18, where the distinction is made in terms of “experimental” vs. “empirical”; Fleming D. Emigré Physicists and the Biological Revolution. Pers Amer Hist. 1968;2:152–89. where (pp. 160–1) the distinction is made in terms of an instinctual difference between physicists and biologists in responding to evidence; and Levi-Strauss, note 6, where the distinction is made in terms of “the scientist creating events (changing the world) by means of structures and the bricoleur creating structures by means of events,” at 22. As noted in Chapter 1, the distinction also appears in Pickstone JV. Ways of Knowing: A New History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2000.
- 24.
Trotter W. Art and Science in Medicine, an Address Delivered at the Opening of the 1932–1933 Session at the University College Hospital Medical School. In: The Collected Papers. Oxford: Humphrey Milford for the Oxford University Press; 1941:85–101, at 90.
- 25.
Trotter W. Observation and Experiments and Their Use in the Medical Sciences. BMJ. 1930 Jul 26;2(3629):129–34.
- 26.
Ibid.
- 27.
Thompson D. Why Are We Still Arguing About Masks? [Internet]. The Atlantic. 2023. Available from: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/03/covid-lab-leak-mask-mandates-science-media-information/673263/?taid=64037a0d28a8a600017ae661&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=true-anthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter, accessed March 27, 2023.
- 28.
In French, quantité and qualité. In German, quantity was originally Menge but became Quantität with the shift, discussed below, from exposure to dose; quality was Härte, Qualität or sometimes Penetrationsvermögen.
- 29.
The idea of quality, analogous to the different colors of light, had already been introduced for cathode rays, see Lenard P. Ueber Die Magnetische Ablenkung Der Kathodenstrahlen. Ann Phys. 1894;52:23–33.
- 30.
For the development of this classification scheme, see Trenn TJ. Rutherford on the Alpha-Beta-Gamma Classification of Radioactive Rays. Isis. 1976 Mar;67(1):61–75.
- 31.
This early period in the history of X-ray protection has been most accurately discussed in Ratkóczy N. Geschichtliches über Strahlenschädigung und Strahlenschutz. Strahlenth. 1971;141:311–20 and 425–38.
James D. Nauman Provides Some Interesting Excerpts from British and American Materials of this Period in Pioneer Descriptions in the Story of X-ray Protection. In: Bruwer AJ. Classic Descriptions in Diagnostic Röntgenology. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas; 1964:311–39. Most other secondary treatments either begin later or fail to take seriously the issue of identifying the agent causing the biological effects.
- 32.
For a review of this “many sittings” approach, see Möller M. (Docent für Dermatologie und Syphilis in Stockholm). Der Einfluss Des Lichtes Auf Die Haut in Born G. et al. Gesundem Und Krankhaftem Zustande. In: Bibliotheca Medica. Abtheilung DII, Heft 8; 1900. Especially:126–7. For specific instances, see Gasmann A, Schenkel H. Ein Beitrag zur Behandlung der Hautkrankheiten mit Röntgenstrahlen. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1898;2:121–32; and Hall-Edwards J. The Röntgen Rays in the Treatment of Cancer. Arch Rönt Ray. 1902 Dec;7:45–9. Hall-Edwards believed “that the production of a limited amount of dermatitis is a sine qua non to successful treatment... the amount of good done is in direct ratio to the mount of dermatitis produced, so long as this does not exceed the scientific limit,” at 46 and 47. See also the editorial, X-ray Dermatitis. Arch Rönt Ray. 1903 Oct;79–82.
- 33.
This is an approach characteristic of “natural history,” see Pickstone JV. Ways of Knowing: A New History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2000.
- 34.
For the bactericidal effects of violet and ultraviolet light, see for example Downes A (M. D.), Blunt TP (M. A. Oxon.). On the Influence of Light on Protoplasm. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 1878;28:199–212. communicated by J. Marshall (F. R. S., Surgeon to University College Hospital); and Duclaux E. Influence De La Lumière Du Soleil Sur La Vitalité Des Micrococcus. t’ C R Soc Biol (Paris). 1885;508–10, séance du 25 juillet 1885.
- 35.
Niels R. Finsen, 1903 Nobelist in medicine, was the inventor and prime promoter of treatment with electric arc light (often known as Finsen light), see especially “The Treatment of Lupus Vulgaris by Concentrated Chemical Rays,” tr. from La Semaine Médicale of 21 December 1897 by J. H. Sequeira in N. Finsen, Phototherapy (London: Edward Arnold, 1901). See also Aggebo, Niels Finsen: Die Lebensgeschichte eines grossen Arztes und Forschers, tr. from Danish by M. Backmann-lsler (Zurich: Rascher, 1946).
- 36.
The analogies to light and electricity and the notion that something could be intermediate in character between them was also used by LeBon for his “black light,” see Nye MJ. Gustave LeBon’s “Black Light: A Study in Physics and Philosophy in France at the Turn of the Century.” Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences. 1974;4:163–95, at 173.
- 37.
Most standard sources fail to make more than passing mention of the electrotherapeutic tradition. For surveys, see Colwell HA. A Sketch of the History of Electrotherapy. Archives of Radiology and Electrotherapy. 1917;21:320–6. and his Essay on the History of Electrotherapy and Diagnosis. London: Heinemann; 1922. See also Coulter JS. Physical Therapy. New York: Paul B. Hoeber; 1932. An interesting account of the Viennese electrotherapists, including one Dr. Sigmund Freud, within the context of physiotherapy can be found in Lesky E. Die Wiener Medizinische Schule Im 19. Jahrhunderts. Graz-Köln: Bohlau; 1965:334–401. For a contemporary review of the effects of high-frequency alternating current and its therapeutic uses, see D’t Arsonval. Action Physiologique Et Thérapeutique Des Courants Haute Fréquence. Ann Electro. 1898;1:1–28, communication faite en avril 1897 à la Société internationale des électriciens, and Oudin. Les Courants De Haute Fréquence Et De Haute Tension Dans Les Maladies De La Peau Et Des Muqueuses. ibid.:86–113. For an important contemporary text, see Erb W. Electrotherapeutics, Vol. VI of von Ziemssen TS. Handbook of General Therapeutics, tr. A. de Watteville. New York: William Wood; 1887. Overshadowed by radiotherapy, electrotherapy declined rapidly after World War I because it was unable to establish itself as a creditable specialty with the bulk of physicians, except perhaps in France. Today's radiotherapy and physical therapy can, however, be traced in part to this stillborn branch of medicine.
- 38.
The best available evidence for the dominance of the electrical view is that contemporary sources on both sides of the issue from 1898 through 1900 treated it as the majority view, see for example the following: Dollinger D. Zweiter Bericht Über Die Arbeiten Auf Dem Gebiete Der Röntgenstrahlen in Frankreich,t’ Fortschr. Röntgenstr. 1898;2:36–143 and 73–5; Rodet A, Bertin-Sans H. (laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Physique médicale, Université de Montpellier). Influence Des Rayons X Sur La Tuberculose Expérimentale. Archives of Electronic and Medicine. 1898 Oct 15;6:413–31; Freund S. Rapport Sur l’état Actuel De La radiothérapie, Comptes-rendus Des Séances Du 1 Er Congrès International d’ Electrologie Et De Radiologie Médicale, Paris, 27 juillet–1 Er Août 1900. Lille: Bigot Frères; 1900:218–29 with discussion; and R. Kienböck (Röntgen-lnstitut im Sanatorium Fürth, Vienna), “Über die Einwirkung des Röntgen-Lichtes auf die Haut,” originally delivered at the k. k. Gesellschaft der Aerzte (Vienna) 19 October 1900 and printed with revisions in Wien Klin Wschr. 1900 Dec 13;13:1153–66. The electrical view held on even longer in some circles, see the account of a discussion at the Röntgen Society, The Relation Between X Rays and Allied Phenomenae. Arch Rönt Ray. 1902 Jun;7:3–7. and also Williams FR. (M.D. Harvard; graduate of MIT; Visiting Physician at the Boston City Hospital; Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society; Member of the Association of American Physicians and of the American Climatological Association; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science). The Röntgen Rays in Medicine and Surgery. New York: MacMillan; 1901. Williams, whose book was the leading text in the United States, was still recommending the use of a grounded aluminum screen for protection of the patient in the third edition, 1903.
- 39.
Destot. Les troubles physiologiques et trophiques dus aux rayons. C R Acad Sci (Paris). 1897 May 17;124:1114–6, présenté par M. Bouchard.
- 40.
Leonard CL. (Skiagrapher to the University Hospital and Assistant Instructor in Clinical Surgery, University of Pennsylvania). The X-Ray “Burn”: Its Productions and Prevention. Has the X-Ray Any Therapeutic Properties?. N Y Med J. 1891 Jul 2;68:18–20. Leonard thought a grounded aluminum sheet provided “absolute protection.”
- 41.
Schürmayer. (Hannover) Die Schädigungen Durch Röntgenstrahlen Und Die Bedeutung Unserer Schutzvorrichtungen. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1901;5:44–8, delivered at the 73. Versammlung deutscher Naturforscher und Artze in Hamburg (22–29 September 1901).
- 42.
Frei GA. X-rays Harmless with the Static Machine. Elec Eng. 1896 Dec 23;22:651, as quoted in Nauman, note 31, and Destot in the discussion following Schiff and Freund, note 38, at 228.
- 43.
Schürmayer, note 41.
- 44.
For the “finger” experiment, see Thomson E. Röntgen Ray Burns. Amer X-Ray J. 1898 Nov;3:452–3. Thomson had believed from the first that the effects were due to the X-rays themselves, see Codman EA. The Cause of Burns from X-rays. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. 1896 Dec 19;135:610–1. Thomson, it should be noted, had developed an induction coil that was in competition with a static machine developed by Frei, note 39. There may therefore have been vested interests influencing both Thomson's report and Frei’s. For experiments comparable to Thomson's with bacteria, see Rieder H. Wirkung der Röntgenstrahlen auf Bakterien, Munchen. Med Wschr. 1898;45:101–4.
- 45.
For the initiation of the surveys, see X Ray Traumatism. Arch Rönt Ray. 1898;2:61 and Albers-Schönberg. Aufforderung Zu Einer Sammelforschung Über Die Wirkung Der Röntgenstrahlen Auf Den Menschlichen Organismus. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1898;1:226–7. The inconclusive outcome of the Röntgen Society inquiry is apparent in Payne E. Notes on the Effects of X Rays. Arch Rönt Ray. 1899;3:67–9; and Walsh D. Focus-Tube Dermatitis. Ibid.:69–73. The inconclusive outcome of the German survey, which was mounted in imitation of the English one, is apparent in the report on the 30 July 1900 session of the Congrès International d'Électrologie et de Radiologie médicales in Fortschr. Röntgenstr. 4, (1900–1901):99. A similar American inquiry did not attempt to answer the question of what was causing the X-ray injuries, leaving it to “the electricians,” see Scott NS. X-Ray Injuries. Amer XRay J. 1897;1:57–66, but the editor of the journal made his position clear, “With all that has been written for the lay press, medical journals and scientific publications, I am unable to find a rational conclusion [sic] for the belief that X-rays ever injured in any instance human tissue,” ibid.
- 46.
For the reversal of the burden of proof, see the reply to Thomson of Leonard CL. (M. D., Assistant Instructor in Clinical Surgery and Instructor in Skiagraphy, University of Pennsylvania) Röntgen-Ray Dermatitis. Amer X-Ray J. 1898 Nov;3:453.: “we must first eliminate all causes that experience has shown are capable of producing like results under different circumstances.”
- 47.
Freund L (aus dem pathologisch-anatomischen Universitäts-institute und dem Institute für Radiographie und Radiotherapie in Wien). Die physiologischen Wirkungen der Polentladungen hochgespannter Inductionsströme und einiger unsichtbaren Strahlungen. Sitzungsber Akad Wiss. (Wien), 109, Abtheilung III (1900) 583–65 vorgelegt in der Sitzung 12 July 1900. For a briefer statement of the mature electrical view, see Schiff E, Freund L. (Universitätsdozent in Wien), Der Gegenwärtige Stand Der Radiotherapie. Wien Klin Wschr. 1900;13:827–9, nach einem auf dem XIII internationalen dermatologischen Congresse in Paris gehaltenen Vortrage. Schiff and Freund, who were leading figures in radiology in Vienna, converted to the electrical view around 1898.
- 48.
Ibid.
- 49.
For a biography, see Weiss K. Robert Kienböck–80 Jahre. Strahlenth. 1951;84:161–4.
- 50.
Kienböck, note 38. Kienböck's work was confirmed by W. Scholz (Privatdocent an der Universität Königsberg, frühere Assistenartzt an der dermatolog. Universitätsklinik zu Breslau) in a Habilitationschrift completed in June 1901, Ueber den Einfluss der Röntgenstrahlen auf die Haut in gesundem und krankem Zustande. Arch Derm Syph. 1902;59:87–104, 241–60 and 421–45. See also the experiments in which exposure to an X-ray tube killed guinea pigs protected by a grounded metal cage, as reported by Rollins W. X-Light Kills. Bost Med Surg J. 1901 Feb 14;144:173.
- 51.
Kienböck, note 38.
- 52.
Ibid.:1053–5, which gives an account of the discussion following Kienböck’s oral presentation of his paper. The flaw in the experiment with bacteria was that the culture exposed to the X-rays was shielded with a grounded aluminum sheet to eliminate the effect of the static charges, while the culture exposed to the static charge around the cathode portion of the tube was not. As Kienböck pointed out, this aluminum sheet kept out sunlight as well, which is presumably what killed the bacteria in the other culture.
- 53.
For photographs of a case of dermatitis on the hands of a physician that began in 1896 and became chronic in 1897, see Hall-Edwards J. Chronic Dermatitis of Both Hands. Arch Rönt Ray. 1905;8:92. Acute and chronic X-ray dermatitis were described in Oudin, Barthelemy, Darier. (Paris) Über Veränderungen an der Haut und den Eingeweiden nach Durchleuchtung mit X-Strahlen. Monat Prak Derm. 1897 Nov 1;25:417–46, vorgetragen auf dem Internat. medizinischen Kongresse zu Moskau (or see their short report, Accidents Cutanés Causés Par Les Rayons X. Gaz Hop. 1897;70:1041–2. The distinction between acute and chronic cases was common thereafter, but apparently no further chronic cases were reported until Unna PG. Die Chronische Röntgendermatitis Der Radiologen. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1904;8:67–91.
- 54.
Payne, note 45.
- 55.
Codman EA. (Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital). A Study of the Cases of Accidental X-Ray Burns Hitherto Recorded. PhiIa Medical Journal. 1902 Mar 8;9:438–42 and 499–503. Codman, who seems to have been agnostic on the electrical view, had earlier complained in reference to Rollins, note 50, “Such sensational headlines as ‘X-Light Kills’ are apt to give the wrong impression.” The fact that the X-ray is in daily use in the large hospitals without harmful results should be put in blacker type than the death of two guinea pigs, see “No Practical Danger from the X-ray.” Boston Medical and Surgical Journal; 1901 Feb 28;144:197.
- 56.
The most extensive, but by no means complete, survey of these cases is in Holzknecht G. (Sachverständiger für das medizinische Röntgenfahren am Landesgericht in Strafsachen in Wien) Die Forensische Beurteilung Der Sogenannten Röntgen-verbrennungen. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1902;6:145–50 and 177–84. In Germany, physicians acted as expert advisors to the court in such cases. It is striking that in the United States there were already calls for medical judgments before cases came to court and for medical defense unions “to check the nefarious schemings of those pathogenic bacteria of the body politic, the ‘shyster t lawyers, to whom by far the larger proportion of such suits owe their origin, in Actions for Malpractice. N Y Med J. 1898 Jul 2;68:21–2, at 22.
- 57.
Gocht H. (Sektmdärarzt der Klinik, aus der chirurgisch-orthopädischen Privatklinik des Prof. A. Hoffa in Würzburg). Anklage wegen “fahrlässige Körperverletzung” nach Anwendung der Röntgenstrahlen (Röntgendermatitis). Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1898;2:110–4.
- 58.
For the defendant’s own indignant view of the proceedings, see Schürmayer B. Röntgentechnik und fahrlässige Körperverletzung. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1902;6:24–43. Holzknecht, note 56, gives a different view of this case, but Holzknecht, it should be noted, was a strong supporter of Kienböck. Holzknecht himself later paid damages of £1450 for burns inflicted in 1902, see Journal of the Röntgen Society. 1902 Jul;2:22.
- 59.
The case of Clarence Dally, who had worked with X-rays since 1896, is described in Brown P. American Martyrs to Science Through the Röntgen Rays. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas; 1936. Edison himself had this to say: “In the case of our Mr. Dally the damage is serious; but now, when we know just how continued exposure to the rays affects the living tissue, we can go ahead safely. Ample protection can be obtained by using a screen of lead about 1/4 inch thick…I…would continue the experiments myself, but my wife won't let me,” from an interview in the Daily Mail as quoted in Mr. Edison and the X Rays. Arch Rönt Ray. 1903 Aug;8:45. At about the same time as Dally's carcinoma was reported, another case was demonstrated by Frieben at the Arztliche Verein, Hamburg (21 October 1902), see the report of the ensuing amputation in Sick. Fall von Karzinom der Haut, das auf Boden eines Röntgenulcus entstanden ist. Munchen Med Wschr. 1903;50:1445, from the report of the 23 June 1903 meeting of the Biologische Abteilung des ärztlichen Vereins Hamburg.
- 60.
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For biographies, see the obituaries in Fortschr Röntgenstr. 1921;28:197–205. and in Strahlenth. 1922;13:538–48. (including a list of publications).
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Albers-Schönberg, note 60.
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Serwer, D. (2024). Science Discovers, Medicine Applies, Protection Lags, 1896–1902. In: Strengthening International Regimes. Palgrave Studies in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53724-0_2
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