crystals ofbarium platinocyanide applied to a piece of paper that lay on a table some
distance from the tube. Knowing that cathode rays travel only about six to eight
centimeters from their source, he moved the crystals closer to the tube and noticed that
the glow grew brighter. As he moved the crystals farther away from the tube, they
became dimmer. When the current to the tube was turned off, the barium
platinocyanide crystals ceased to glow.
At this point, Roentgen realized that he was observing a new form of energy, a form of
energy he knew nothing about that had the ability to penetrate solid material. He decided
to call these rays "X" because of their unknown nature. In the weeks after his
discovery, Roentgen was so mesmerized by this new form of energy that he totally
immersed himself in unleashing its properties.
distance from the tube. Knowing that cathode rays travel only about six to eight
centimeters from their source, he moved the crystals closer to the tube and noticed that
the glow grew brighter. As he moved the crystals farther away from the tube, they
became dimmer. When the current to the tube was turned off, the barium
platinocyanide crystals ceased to glow.
At this point, Roentgen realized that he was observing a new form of energy, a form of
energy he knew nothing about that had the ability to penetrate solid material. He decided
to call these rays "X" because of their unknown nature. In the weeks after his
discovery, Roentgen was so mesmerized by this new form of energy that he totally
immersed himself in unleashing its properties.
 |  |  |  |
| If you have a picture you'd like us to feature a picture in a future quiz, please email it to us at CFitzp@aol.com. If we use it, you will receive a free analysis of your picture. You will also receive a free Forensic Genealogy CD or a 10% discount towards the purchase of the Forensic Genealogy book. |
| Quiz #172 Results |
 |  |  |  |
Nov. 8, 1895-Scientist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen is at
work in his laboratory in the Bavarian city of Wurzburg,
testing the ability of cathode rays to penetrate a vacuum
tube. He determines that the rays are too weak to
permeate the glass. He is about to end the experiment
when he notices a faint glow rising from a paper coated
with barium platinocyanide crystals-a glow that increases
as he moves the paper closer to the tube and fades
completely when he turns off the tube's power supply.
Elated and mystified, Roentgen realizes that he has
stumbled across a form of energy that neither he nor,
likely, the rest of humankind has ever before encountered:
energy that is capable of penetrating solid materials. He
christens this alien energy "the X-ray" and unknowingly
places the world on the threshold of atomic medicine.
work in his laboratory in the Bavarian city of Wurzburg,
testing the ability of cathode rays to penetrate a vacuum
tube. He determines that the rays are too weak to
permeate the glass. He is about to end the experiment
when he notices a faint glow rising from a paper coated
with barium platinocyanide crystals-a glow that increases
as he moves the paper closer to the tube and fades
completely when he turns off the tube's power supply.
Elated and mystified, Roentgen realizes that he has
stumbled across a form of energy that neither he nor,
likely, the rest of humankind has ever before encountered:
energy that is capable of penetrating solid materials. He
christens this alien energy "the X-ray" and unknowingly
places the world on the threshold of atomic medicine.
| ********** |
| ********** |
| One of earliest examples of this type of photo. 1. What kind of image is it? 2. Whose hand is it? 3. What was the date it was taken? |
| Click here to see results of 5th occasional photoquiz survey. |
| Click here to see results of 5th occasional photoquiz survey. |
| Submitted by Dr. Jim Kiser, DDS. |
| Answers to Quiz #172 - August 24, 2008 |
| ********** |
| Answers: 1. An X-ray 2. Alfred von Kolliker 3. January 23, 1896 |
| ********** |
| X-rays JADA, Vol. 126, October 1995 1359 http://jada.ada.org/cgi/reprint/126/10/1359.pdf |
| Remark from the Quizmaster General |
| Wilhelm Roentgen http://nobelprize.org/ |
Roentgen's discovery of the X-ray has been ranked in importance with the discovery
and development of anesthesia by Horace Wells and William Morton, both dentists, and
the discovery of microorganisms and their role in disease by the likes of Pasteur and
Lister. Today's dentistry would be impossible lacking the benefits of Roentgen's
scientific devotion-and the persistence of C. Edmund Kells, who took Roentgen's
discovery and shaped it for use in dentistry.
On Friday evening-Nov. 8, 1895-Roentgen was conducting an experiment with a new
kind of tube, called a Hittorf-Crookes tube, to determine if the cathode rays produced in
it were strong enough to penetrate its glass wall. If they did penetrate the glass wall, a
glow of colored light would appear around the outside of the tube when the rays
encountered air.
and development of anesthesia by Horace Wells and William Morton, both dentists, and
the discovery of microorganisms and their role in disease by the likes of Pasteur and
Lister. Today's dentistry would be impossible lacking the benefits of Roentgen's
scientific devotion-and the persistence of C. Edmund Kells, who took Roentgen's
discovery and shaped it for use in dentistry.
On Friday evening-Nov. 8, 1895-Roentgen was conducting an experiment with a new
kind of tube, called a Hittorf-Crookes tube, to determine if the cathode rays produced in
it were strong enough to penetrate its glass wall. If they did penetrate the glass wall, a
glow of colored light would appear around the outside of the tube when the rays
encountered air.
Many of the Quizmasters believed that the x-ray featured as our
quiz photo this week was taken by Wilhelm Roentgen of his wife
Bertha's hand. So did I. However, the correct answer is that the
picture was taken by Roentgen of the hand of his colleague, Alfred
von Kolliker, January 23, 1896.
Roentgen had taken the first X-ray of his wife's hand the previous
November 1895. It was only after he had submitted his first
"provisorial" communication, Ueber eine nue Art von Strahlen (On a
New Kind of Rays) in the Proceedings of the Würzburg Phisico-
Medical Society and made his first public presentation on his
discovery on January 23, 1896, that he made the X-ray of von
Kolliker's hand that is the subject of this quiz.
quiz photo this week was taken by Wilhelm Roentgen of his wife
Bertha's hand. So did I. However, the correct answer is that the
picture was taken by Roentgen of the hand of his colleague, Alfred
von Kolliker, January 23, 1896.
Roentgen had taken the first X-ray of his wife's hand the previous
November 1895. It was only after he had submitted his first
"provisorial" communication, Ueber eine nue Art von Strahlen (On a
New Kind of Rays) in the Proceedings of the Würzburg Phisico-
Medical Society and made his first public presentation on his
discovery on January 23, 1896, that he made the X-ray of von
Kolliker's hand that is the subject of this quiz.
| Remark from Dr. Jim Kiser, DDS, Submitter of this Week's Photo |
C. Edmund Kells of New Orleans applied the use of the skill of using x-rays directly to
dentistry and paid the sacrifice radiation poisoning losing body parts and ultimately
committing suicide. I belonged to a society named in his honor. "The C.Edmund Kells
Dental Study Society". He was way ahead of his time.
dentistry and paid the sacrifice radiation poisoning losing body parts and ultimately
committing suicide. I belonged to a society named in his honor. "The C.Edmund Kells
Dental Study Society". He was way ahead of his time.
| The first X-ray November 1895 Bertha Roengten's Hand |
| Karl Brossard, Susan Fortune, and George Wright have been promoted to Quizmasters Extraordinaire for their analyses that show the X-ray being of von Kolliker's Hand |
| Comment from Our Readers |
| ********** |
Couple of interesting things here that any budding forensic genealogists should consider:
a. the length of the ring finger is longer than the index (or pointer) finger and there for
is most likely to be a male (longer in 98% of males);
b. is the hand a left or a right? This I would suspect would not be easy to determine
without physically inspecting the original image (any clues on this Colleen?) however,
as we know who owned the hand then we can be fairly sure that it is the right hand
(wedding ring usually worn on this hand by the Swiss and Germans) leading to the
conclusion that the image as presented in the quiz is the reverse of the original image.
Karl Bossard
*****
Although it looks that the most famous (and first) xray in the world--"Hand With Ring,"
it's actually an xray of Albert von Kölliker's hand. Xrays were discovered by Willhelm
Roentgen, and "Hand With Ring," is an xray of Roentgen's wife's hand, taken on 22
December 1895. That particular xray is much less clear than the above film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Conrad_R%C3%B6ntgen ...an old xray clerk can
see right through this ruse! Susan Fortune
Note: Susan cites the only article found showing both Mrs. R's and von K's X-rays.
*****
Obviously, it is an x-ray. Perhaps the oldest x-ray taken? So I checked on Wikipedia
and they had a copy of the first x-ray in the entry for "Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen". That
image (taken of the hand and wedding ring of his wife, Anna Berthe Roentgen, had a
totally different ring and as a much smaller image. Just below it in the Wikipedia article,
is the image you show on your site.
Based on this, the answers to your quiz are as follows.
1. X-ray image
2. Alfred (or Albert?) von Kolliker
3. 23 January 1896
I cannot find any reference on the internet to an Alfred von Kolliker. However, the
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen site on Wikipedia lists "Albert" von Kolliker as an eminent
physiologist and anatomist teaching at the University of Wurzburg, where both of them
were professors in 1896. George Wright
a. the length of the ring finger is longer than the index (or pointer) finger and there for
is most likely to be a male (longer in 98% of males);
b. is the hand a left or a right? This I would suspect would not be easy to determine
without physically inspecting the original image (any clues on this Colleen?) however,
as we know who owned the hand then we can be fairly sure that it is the right hand
(wedding ring usually worn on this hand by the Swiss and Germans) leading to the
conclusion that the image as presented in the quiz is the reverse of the original image.
Karl Bossard
*****
Although it looks that the most famous (and first) xray in the world--"Hand With Ring,"
it's actually an xray of Albert von Kölliker's hand. Xrays were discovered by Willhelm
Roentgen, and "Hand With Ring," is an xray of Roentgen's wife's hand, taken on 22
December 1895. That particular xray is much less clear than the above film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Conrad_R%C3%B6ntgen ...an old xray clerk can
see right through this ruse! Susan Fortune
Note: Susan cites the only article found showing both Mrs. R's and von K's X-rays.
*****
Obviously, it is an x-ray. Perhaps the oldest x-ray taken? So I checked on Wikipedia
and they had a copy of the first x-ray in the entry for "Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen". That
image (taken of the hand and wedding ring of his wife, Anna Berthe Roentgen, had a
totally different ring and as a much smaller image. Just below it in the Wikipedia article,
is the image you show on your site.
Based on this, the answers to your quiz are as follows.
1. X-ray image
2. Alfred (or Albert?) von Kolliker
3. 23 January 1896
I cannot find any reference on the internet to an Alfred von Kolliker. However, the
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen site on Wikipedia lists "Albert" von Kolliker as an eminent
physiologist and anatomist teaching at the University of Wurzburg, where both of them
were professors in 1896. George Wright
Well, there is more than meets the eye to this quiz. The image is an Xray, yet whose
hand is it? The most frequently stated owner is Anna Bertha Roentgen's hand but I'm
choosing the less cited answer: Albert von Kolliker's hand. Bertha did "pose" for an
Xray a few months before this one was taken and felt she saw her death in the photo.
If she saw her death in the photo, it seems unlikely she would pose for a second photo.
My searches brought up three possible dates of the Xray. I'm going with Jan 23, 1896
when Roentgen (Rontgen) photographed von Kolliker's hand at the end of his lecture
and demonstration to the Wurzberg Physical-Medical Society.
Fortunately Bertha lived another 24 years. Rhonda Hensley
*****
I think from that one you showed on the quiz site was Frau Roentgen’s as her ring is
more circular and the xray was not as well defined being one of the first. The von
Kolliker’s x-ray picture on Wikipedia is well defined and the ring is clearer from
Roentgen’s x-ray improvements. I saw many sites that were interchanging the pictures
with different captions. A bone specialist should be able to determine if the x-ray is a
male or female shouldn’t they? Fred Stuart
*****
Oh, um, ahem. They're right, no? -- which would make it Jan 23, 1896. And it's not
the first x-ray. Dang! The page that led me astray is http://www.msit.com/rad_hist.html, but
I see it's mislabeled. See also:
http://wlap.physics.lsa.umich.edu/cern/lectures/academ/2000/wilson/01/real/sld003.htm.
A Google image search on "first x-ray" does it.
There's a seriously good lesson here on multiple sources and what librarians call
"authority." I'm supposed to know how to teach those. (>_<) Ouch!
Rex (duh) Cornelius
*****
I remember as a kid being in a shoe store where they had a device where you could see
the bones in your feet. I think this was called a fluoroscope. I'm glad I didn't use it too
often. Dan Schlesinger
*****
Here are a couple of fun found items in case you hadn't run across them. My favorite
photo so far of Ms Roentgen is at http://xfelinfo.desy.de/en/artikel.roentgenlicht-
roentgen/2/index.html.
We have to admire the 19th - 20th century researchers for being willing to hold still
under weird apparatus, sniff fumes and generally stick their fingers into light sockets.
Also I guess we have to wonder at the general public being entertained by electricity,
radiation, laughing gas, x-rays, etc. Rex Cornelius (again)
*****
Dr. Roentgen died in 1923 of intestinal cancer, but the general consensus seems to be
that his illness was not caused by his X-Ray work, which was of short duration, and
the fact that he alone used lead protection between himself and the ray producing
equipment. Bill Utterback
*****
I started my search for clues among mummy images; this clearly was an incorrect
guess! Kate Johnson
*****
I just gave myself a big, resounding boo because I noticed that there were different
photos. You're right; it's a good lesson. Carolyn Cornelius
hand is it? The most frequently stated owner is Anna Bertha Roentgen's hand but I'm
choosing the less cited answer: Albert von Kolliker's hand. Bertha did "pose" for an
Xray a few months before this one was taken and felt she saw her death in the photo.
If she saw her death in the photo, it seems unlikely she would pose for a second photo.
My searches brought up three possible dates of the Xray. I'm going with Jan 23, 1896
when Roentgen (Rontgen) photographed von Kolliker's hand at the end of his lecture
and demonstration to the Wurzberg Physical-Medical Society.
Fortunately Bertha lived another 24 years. Rhonda Hensley
*****
I think from that one you showed on the quiz site was Frau Roentgen’s as her ring is
more circular and the xray was not as well defined being one of the first. The von
Kolliker’s x-ray picture on Wikipedia is well defined and the ring is clearer from
Roentgen’s x-ray improvements. I saw many sites that were interchanging the pictures
with different captions. A bone specialist should be able to determine if the x-ray is a
male or female shouldn’t they? Fred Stuart
*****
Oh, um, ahem. They're right, no? -- which would make it Jan 23, 1896. And it's not
the first x-ray. Dang! The page that led me astray is http://www.msit.com/rad_hist.html, but
I see it's mislabeled. See also:
http://wlap.physics.lsa.umich.edu/cern/lectures/academ/2000/wilson/01/real/sld003.htm.
A Google image search on "first x-ray" does it.
There's a seriously good lesson here on multiple sources and what librarians call
"authority." I'm supposed to know how to teach those. (>_<) Ouch!
Rex (duh) Cornelius
*****
I remember as a kid being in a shoe store where they had a device where you could see
the bones in your feet. I think this was called a fluoroscope. I'm glad I didn't use it too
often. Dan Schlesinger
*****
Here are a couple of fun found items in case you hadn't run across them. My favorite
photo so far of Ms Roentgen is at http://xfelinfo.desy.de/en/artikel.roentgenlicht-
roentgen/2/index.html.
We have to admire the 19th - 20th century researchers for being willing to hold still
under weird apparatus, sniff fumes and generally stick their fingers into light sockets.
Also I guess we have to wonder at the general public being entertained by electricity,
radiation, laughing gas, x-rays, etc. Rex Cornelius (again)
*****
Dr. Roentgen died in 1923 of intestinal cancer, but the general consensus seems to be
that his illness was not caused by his X-Ray work, which was of short duration, and
the fact that he alone used lead protection between himself and the ray producing
equipment. Bill Utterback
*****
I started my search for clues among mummy images; this clearly was an incorrect
guess! Kate Johnson
*****
I just gave myself a big, resounding boo because I noticed that there were different
photos. You're right; it's a good lesson. Carolyn Cornelius
| von Kolliker |
| Bertha |
| Other References for Further Reading |
| Google Books Opportunities in Medical Imaging Careers By Clifford J. Sherry. Click here. |
| Wikipedia Image Hi res image of von Kolliker's hand X-ray. Click here. |
| Read full article published in the Journal of the American Dental Association Making Darkness Visible: The Discovery of X-ray and Its Introduction to Dentistry PH Jacobsohn and RJ Fedran J Am Dent Assoc 1995;126;1359-1367 Click here. |
opening the door to the science of diagnostic readings.
The first radiographic image of human anatomy ever recorded was of the hand of
Roentgen's wife. This crude radiograph took 15 minutes to expose, and when Bertha
Roentgen saw the bones of her hand made visible on the photographic plate, she said it
created in her "a vague premonition of death."
The first radiographic image of human anatomy ever recorded was of the hand of
Roentgen's wife. This crude radiograph took 15 minutes to expose, and when Bertha
Roentgen saw the bones of her hand made visible on the photographic plate, she said it
created in her "a vague premonition of death."
| ********** |
| Biography of Wilhelm Roentgen on Wikipedia Click here. |
In an attempt to fully observe the
phenomenon, he darkened the laboratory
as much as possible. To help his
weakened eyes, he also covered the tube
with black cardboard to exclude any light
interference. He applied power to the
electrodes and carefully observed the end
of the tube but did not notice a glow
around the outside of the tube. He
concluded that cathode rays were not
strong enough to penetrate glass. As
Roentgen was about to turn off the
power supply to the tube, he noticed a
faint glow ofvlight being emitted by some
phenomenon, he darkened the laboratory
as much as possible. To help his
weakened eyes, he also covered the tube
with black cardboard to exclude any light
interference. He applied power to the
electrodes and carefully observed the end
of the tube but did not notice a glow
around the outside of the tube. He
concluded that cathode rays were not
strong enough to penetrate glass. As
Roentgen was about to turn off the
power supply to the tube, he noticed a
faint glow ofvlight being emitted by some
| Roentgen's Laboratory http://members.chello.nl/~h.dijkstra..... |
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| ********** |
As he investigated the X-ray, he
discovered that these rays not only
caused crystals to fluoresce but also were
capable of penetrating solid objects. His
experiments dealing with penetration of
objects included such materials as wood,
paper, metals-and the human body, thus
discovered that these rays not only
caused crystals to fluoresce but also were
capable of penetrating solid objects. His
experiments dealing with penetration of
objects included such materials as wood,
paper, metals-and the human body, thus
| ********** |
| ********** |
| ********** |
| ********* |
| Submitted by Rex Cornelius. |
| Submitted by Rex Cornelius. |
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