/tory behind the /tory An Early Report on the Physiological Effects of X-Rays D. S. Tarbell A. T. Tarbell and J. H. Hamilton Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37235 The discovery of X-rays or Rontgen rays, the names being used interchangeably from the first, was announced by W. C. Rontgen in the closing days of 1895 ( 1 ) . Robert A. Millikan, studying physin in Berlin a t the time, recalled that Rontgen's paper was read a t the semi-centennial meeting of the German Physical Society on January 4,1896. Exhibited were F'dntgen's of the bones bf his hand and of coins in a purse. Millikan gave vivid accounts of. the popular and scientific excitement aroused by the discovery' (2). T h e very great scientific interest and the numerous exneriments on this new t w e of radiation are shown bv the laree started appearing within a few number of pub~ication~ahich weeks. in the first 1896 volume of Science and similar iournals (3). It verv soon became clear that this radiation was hazardous to hum&, although the seriousness of the exposure was not apparent for several years. It is the purpose of this note to &scribe the first ~rnbricnnreporr on the matter, which was simultan~~rus with the first paper from ovcr6eai. Juhn Daniel of -~ thc Vanderhilr k'hvsics Deoartment. in a note dated March 23,1896, described an experiment ( 4 j carried out on March 1, in which a human subject, William L. Dudley, was irradiated with X-rays. Daniel had started experiments within a "few days" of the appearance of Rontgen's paper.2 ~~~~
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.. .lution..in Science . and Religion," Yale, New Haven, 1935, p. 10.
Daniel (1863-1950), (A.B., A.M., Alahama, 1884, 1886) studied at Johns Hopkins in 1886-1889 and in Germany with Helmholtz (private communication fromDr. R. T. Lagemann).He taucht physics at Vanderbilt for the remainder of his long career; (Notional Encyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. A, p. 67).William L. Dudley (1859-1914), (B.S.,Cincinnati, 1880;taught chemistry and toxicology, Miami Medical College, Cincinnati, 1880-1886: M.D. (honorary) Miami, 18861,hecame professor of chemistry at Vanderbilt in 1886. He carried out some meritorious research in chemistry,published in the Amer Chem. J. and other leadingjournals; 1895,he was appointed Dean of the Medical Department at Vanderbilt, continuing as professor of chemistry. He was active in many puhlic service enterprises, and the Vanderbilt fwtball stadium carries his name, commemorating his part in founding and serving for 18 years as president of the Southern IntercollegiateAthletic Association;Naf. Encyela. Amer. Riog., 13, 227; J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 6,856 (1915). "he Index Medicus for the years following 1896 has a large number of references to radiation damage to humans. 'The Dudley papers contain some clippings of newspaper editorials.
edited by H. WOTIZ Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois 62901 JOHN
Daniel, following earlier observations (including F'dntgen's) on photographs of hone by X-rays, wished to locate a bullet in the head of a child, shot accidentally. Although he had ohotoera~hed an iniured arm bv X-rays, Daniel oreviouslv. . .. . k s h d tu t q an X-ray ot the hriin, and Dudley ag& to nct as the suhiect. Whv the . oaDer . uas nor i)uhlishtd aith Dudlev as co-author is not clear. Daniel used a Ruhmkorff coil and an old Crookes tube, with a metal diaphragm containing a l-in. diameter hole to limit the X-ray source. Dudley had a metal coin and a photographic plate tied to one side of his head; the Crookes tube, with its 1 in. hole, placed 0.5 in. from the other side of his head, was ooerated for 1hour! The d a t e showed no imaee of the coin. c u t 21 days after the exposure, Dudley's hair 21fell out in a 2 in.-circle. where the skin was exposed to the radiation. No untoward effects on Dudley had been noted earlier, and it is not clear that there were further phvsioloeical effects. Fortunately for Dudley, the radiation iaskvidently weak, because there was no effect on the photographic plate. There is apparently no succeeding publication on this matter, although Dudley's bibliography lists the physiological effects of X-rays as one-of his scientific activities (5). This early observation has had a mixed reception in the secondary literature. Percy Brown (6) does not mention Daniel but quotes a simultaneous observation by one Battelli in an Italian journal on the physiological effect of X-rays. Glasser, in 1932, reported the Daniel-Dudley ohservation as the first rewort of X-ray effects. not mentioning Batelli (7). In a 1969 review, the ~ a n i e l - ~ u dexperiment le~ was reported in detail, as one of the earliest reports of unfavorable effects
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There was editorial comment in the non-scientific press on this publication, some editorials suggesting X-rays as a suhstitute for shaving.4 Similar jocular comments soon became distasteful, after the dangerous effects of exposure of X-radiation became tragically well known (6). The reoorts of damaee to human tissue soon became verv numeroub (6,7,8,9), a n i Brown's hook (6) reports 28 cases of Americans who suffered fatal iniuries from exposure to Xrays. Dudley died of a stroke in 1914, after 2 years of failing heal1 h , which required h ~ m to give up his profes.;iunal scrivities in 1912. Any connection a i t h his exposure to X-rays in 1896 is purely speculative. Llterature Cited (1) '"W. C. Rbntgen"in Turner, G.L.I.,"Dictionary of Scientific Biagraphy." (21 Millikn, R.A , ,"The Autobiography of R o k r t A. Milliksn."Preniice-Hall. New York, 1 9 5 0 , ~ 28. . (31 The wbjfft index of Science, 3 (18981shows 22 articles listed under "Runteen Rqvs: and 13 under "X-Rays." (4) Daniel. John.Scimce.3, 562 118961. (5) Vanderbilt Univenity Library. S p e i d Collections, Dudley pspsrr. folder 41. (6) Brown. Percy. "American Martyrs t o Science through Ruenlgen Rays: Thumsr, Springfield, Iliinuis, 1336. (7) Gissmr, 0..A m m J. Roenl~nolopy,28.75 (19321; Glamor mte sstsndnrd biugraphy otmntgen. (8) Breeher. Ruth,end Blocher, Edward, ''TheRays: A Hisfan. of Radiology in the United States and Canada." Wiiiiem and Wilkinr. Baltimore. 1969, pp. 81-82.
Volume 58 Number 3 March 1981
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