Elsevier

Radiography

Volume 15, Supplement 1, December 2009, Pages e42-e47
Radiography

A short history of the origins of radiography in Australia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2009.07.005Get rights and content

Abstract

At the time of Röentgen's discovery of X-rays, Australia was in a period of social transition. Federation under a centralised Australian government was at hand, while regional population centres were growing rapidly under various influences, such as the gold rush of the 1850s, the opening up of new pastoral land and the Great Drought of the 1890s. Reports of Röentgen's discovery first appeared in Australian newspapers towards the end of January 1896. The first limited description of his experimental techniques appeared on the 15th February, arousing excitement in the antipodean scientific community. Independent attempts were made to produce X-ray images at several locations in Australia, the necessary apparatus being widely available. Three men have been separately credited with having been the first to produce a radiographic image using the techniques described by Röentgen. Thomas Rankin Lyle, a Professor at Melbourne University performed a demonstration on the 3rd March 1896, X-raying a colleague's foot. The image was reproduced in the newspaper the following day. Lyle also performed a pre-surgical foreign body localisation on 12th June. Meanwhile, electrician and amateur scientist, Walter Filmer, produced a radiograph at Newcastle, also to localise a needle prior to surgical removal. Although the date of this examination is uncertain, it reportedly took place within days of the 15th February newspaper story, making it both the first successful attempt at radiography and the first medical use of X-rays in Australia. Filmer was later appointed to Newcastle Hospital as honorary ‘X-ray operator’. The third was a catholic priest and Science Master at St Stanislaus' College at Bathurst in western New South Wales, Father Joseph Slattery. On 25th July 1896 he X-rayed the hand of a former student to locate gunshot pellets, saving the hand from amputation. All three men were remarkable for their scientific knowledge and ability and all are deserving of the title of early Australian X-ray pioneer. This paper tells each of their stories.

Introduction

The discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Röentgen on the 8th November 1895 was a major technological step forward in medical science and a global historical event. However, people make history and so its relevance can best be appreciated when placed in the context of the time and the people who played a role in the dissemination of this remarkable discovery. The concept of being able to produce images of bones and joints by generating a beam of invisible rays was in the realm of science fiction at the time, so when it reached the press, the story spread across the world rapidly (for those times) even to farthest flung British colony in the Southern hemisphere, Australia. The scientific community grasped the concept and, having the necessary apparatus readily available, was quick to find local medical applications for this revolutionary technology.

Section snippets

Discovery in context: Australia in 1895

In November 1895, at the time of Röentgen's momentous discovery, Australia was still largely an agrarian society, with an economy based on the export wheat, wool and other primary produce, largely to England, the Mother Country. The ‘emancipists’ had succeeded in putting an end to convict transportation only twenty-seven years earlier, with the last transport discharging its cargo on Western Australian soil in 1868.1 Australian society had matured beyond the status of a penal colony. The gold

Who produced the first X-ray images in Australia?

The first report of Röentgen's discovery appeared in the Sydney Daily Telegraph on 31st January 1896 with the following words: ‘The discovery of Röentgen's that photographic indications of substances hidden behind opaque matter can be obtained is being utilised with astounding results in surgical operations.’[3, p. 41] Similar reports also appeared in newspapers in Melbourne, Brisbane, Launceston and Perth. This news was apparently based on reports that had appeared in the London press in early

Professor Sir Thomas Rankin Lyle

It has been claimed in some early Australian literature about the discovery of X-rays that the first X-ray picture in Australia was a Röentgenogram produced by Professor Thomas Rankin Lyle at the University of Melbourne.5 However, the precise date of Lyle's initial success in producing X-rays is unknown, although it was probably at the end of February or beginning of March 1896.3 It is widely known, however, that on the 3rd March Lyle conducted a public demonstration of radiography in the

Mr Walter Drowley Filmer

Walter Filmer was born in 1865 at Maitland in the lower Hunter Valley, about 30 km to the west of Newcastle and about 200 km north of Sydney.6 He left school at the age of eleven and was apprenticed to a boot maker. His real interest, however, was in electricity and on completion of his apprenticeship he took up a position with the Postal Department, where he was appointed Assistant Telegraph Line Repairer in 1884.6 The following year he took up a position with the Department of Railways, which

Father Joseph Patrick Slattery

Like Thomas Lyle, Joseph Slattery was born in Ireland, at Waterford, famous for its glassware, and like Lyle he was highly skilled at glass-blowing.4 He went to school in Waterford and then in Dublin, before entering the catholic seminary in 1886. Two years into his training as a priest, however, he was posted to Bathurst in NSW, where the Vincentian order had taken charge of St Charles Seminary and St Stanislaus' College. He was ordained in 1891, at Bathurst. Although his principal interest

Conclusion

These were three remarkable men of science, who rightly deserve to be remembered for their pioneering achievements in medical radiography in Australia. They came from very different sectors of society: a distinguished university professor; a boot maker-come-telegraph line repairer, turned electrician and amateur scientist; and an Irish-born catholic priest who taught science at a secondary College. They also shared a great deal in common. They were all highly intelligent and high achievers in

References (9)

  • C. Bateson

    The convict ships: 1787–1868

    (1974)
  • D. Horne

    The story of the Australian people

    (1985)
  • H. Hammersley

    Radiation science and Australian medicine 1896–1914

    Historical Records of Australian Science

    (1982)
  • J. Ryan et al.

    Australasian radiology: a history

    (1996)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (3)

View full text