X-Ray tube and support stand
Object No. H4327
Late in 1895 German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen published his momentous discovery of mysterious rays that could pass through flesh and make an image of the bones inside. The news travelled swiftly around the world. Within weeks Walter Drowley Filmer had used X-rays to locate a broken needle in a patient's foot in February 1896 at Newcastle Hospital, New South Wales. X-rays are produced by bombarding a metal plate with an electric current inside a glass vacuum tube. Amongst the vast collection of X-ray tubes at the Powerhouse Museum there is one that has a handwritten label 'The first X-ray tube used in Newcastle … 1896'. Although we will never be able to claim with certainty that this was the first X-ray tube used in Australia, evidence suggests that it was definitely part of Walter Drowley Filmer's early equipment.
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Summary
Object Statement
X-ray tube and stand, glass / metal / plastic, possibly made by W Watson & Son Ltd, Holborn, London, England, use attributed to Walter Drowley Filmer, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, c. 1896
Physical Description
X-ray tube, glass / metal, attributed to Walter Drowley Filmer, used in Newcastle, NSW, glass/metal, circa 1896 Glass sphere with two small bulbs at each end. The bulb at the top contains a slender glass tube, from which hangs a small metal square. A curved, slender glass tube is attached to the exterior of the bulb. The lower bulb contains a small concave dish, fixed to a stand. A label attached to the sphere describes this as the first x-ray tube used in Newcastle, 1896. (-X) Perspex stand
DIMENSIONS
Diameter
80 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
Information taken from incomplete manufacturer's label. See marks field. Professor Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovered X-rays in December, 1895.
HISTORY
Notes
This X-ray tube is part of a collection donated on 22 October 1917, by Hon. H.M. Doyle to the Newcastle Museum (1890-1941). The Newcastle Museum was a branch of the Technological Museum (later called MAAS). When the Newcastle Museum closed in 1941, its collection was acquired by the Technological Museum. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133209224 Filmer volunteered for Boer War http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83250576 1897 Stereo X-rays to see depth of bullet http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/8613184 book held by SLNSW http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article99420653 1897 Filmer radiographed mouse organs
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Hon Henry Martin Doyle, MLC, 1941
Acquisition Date
22 April 1941
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