X-Rays Personal Recollections
by Captain T. W. Baranard. O.B.E.
(Reprint from BIR Silver Jubilee Souvenir)
Before referring to my Service in
In1908 X-Rays had been used for Medical purposes only a grew years and the apparatus to produce them was very crude compared with that now available. It then consisted of induction coils with various types of interrupters and many gadgets and devises by which it was hoped to overcome leakage of high tension and inverse currents, the X-Ray Tube had to be kept cool by various means. There was but little protection against Radiation and Electrical dangers and the risks " X-Ray Operators" (as the stagg was named in those days) were called upon to incur were many
I joined the staff of "The London Hospital" in that year and at a time when my Senor Colleagues included some who had taken up X-Ray work soon after Roentgen made his famous discovery in 1895. There was no Ipation X-Ray Department even at this important Teaching Hospital and only as small department in the Out-Patient Section. In-Patients who could not be moved to the O.P. Department, which was a considerable distance away and reached by an underground corridor, were radiographed in their beds by means of a protable trolley unit on which there was no protective shield around the X-Ray Tube.
Of the seven men then serving at "The London", E.H. Harnack had been very badly damaged by X-Rays; he had lost one hand and part of the forearm and, also fingers from the other hand which later was amputated. He had therefore, more or less retired from active work, but was employed in showing numerous parties of visitors over the Hospital. Ernest Wilson also had bad X-Ray injuries and could only attend both hands, was, with a youth -Percy Cooper, -on duty in the newly opened skin X-Ray Therapy Department in the O.P. working for Dr. Sequeira who was in charge of this and the Finsen Light Department. H.J. Suggars,. C. Copeland, F.Lovelock and myself covered diagnositc Radiology and also some types of treatment. Six of the seven are dead-Harnack,Wilson, Blackall and Suggars, from X-Ray Injuries, Lovelock from partly X-Rays; Copeland, only slightly damage, died from a heart attack, Cooper gave up X-Ray work after some years service and emigrated to Australia - he receied slight X-Ray injuries but it is not known whether he is still alive. Although I used a 'naked' X-Ray Tube with no protective shield, I escaped serious injury apart from damaged finger nails, as I took precautions ignored by my Seniors, the most importantbeing to keep a safe distance from the X-Ray Tube when it was in action; I attribute the fact thatt I am alive today being due to my use of a length of insulated flex by means of which I swithced the Tube mounted on my Ward apparatus "on and off" from a distance of about 10 feet!
Besides my colleagues at the London Hospital - I met many other early pioneers in the X-Ray World and some of these became intimate friends who took a paternal interest in me - then a rather raw young man just beginning to learn something of the hazardous profession they themselves had adopted, with but little protection. I was associated with some of the workers, who included three of those I have named who invented one of the early protective measures against X-Ray dangers - the lead glass bowl - in which was placed the X-Ray Tube of those days - this type of protection being in use until the advent of the self protected tube. Alas, the invention, although means of protection to those who followed, was of no avail for most of the inventors, as they had already contracted X-Ray injuries from the effects of which they died.
Those early years were vere interesting. The X-Ray exposures required to produce Radiographs were long compared with the flashes of today, although advances had been made since still earlier days when it was necessary to give 15 minutes exposure to produce a veru indifferent radiograph of an ankle - I had to give only 45 to 60 seconds - but with todays powerful apparatus, a fraction of a second is sufficient. In 1909 I had to give a 2 minutes exposure to obtain a radiograph of a patient'2 supine - when we could "nurse" the X-Ray Tube to work for this long period without breaking down: more often we had to rest the tube halfway, having warned the patient not to move during the five or six minutes required for such an examination. In those days we used a device called a Bauer Qualimeter to indicate the penetrating power of the Radiation produced in the X-Raytube. This meter was wired into the high tension circuit and I remember it very well, for on one occasion the needle on the scale became fixed and I carelessly tapped it with my pencil to make it move but it was I who moved, for the lead in my pencil connected me to the high rension circuit and I was flung across the room by the electric shock, being picked up in a very dazed condition but otherwise unhurt.
The X-Ray Tunes used in early days consisted of 6 and 8-inch Gunderlach gas tubes which were difficult to "season" for various types of "soft or hard" X-Rays; it was, therefore, necessary to keep in use a battery of tubes, each having been worked up to the penetrating value required for different examinations. - Therese tubes could be purchased for 150 to 250 Rupees - todays tubes cost anything from 5,000 for diagnostic Radiology to possibly 15,000 Rupees for use with the Super Voltage X-Ray Treatment Units. A complete apparatus in those days could be bought for about 2,000 Rupees, - todays price for a good type of diagnostic X-Ray Unit is about a lakh, while Linear Accelerators used for Treatment may cost over five lakhs of Rupees.
Interesting radiographs I made in
Other interesting Radiographs I made in those days were of the injured firemen and policemen and the associates of "Peter the Painter" involved in the Sidney Street affair and the murders and burglary in Houndsditch, London, leading up to that exciting episode when Winston Churchill, then Home Secretary, ordered out guardsmen from the Tower of London, to help the police to arrest the desperate Anarchist Aliens who having barricaded themselves on the top floor of a house in Sidney Street in the East End kept everyone at bay by using a regular arsenal of firearms, I still retain a mental picture of Mr. Churchill, standing in Sidney Street watching the soldiers who, lying flat on the roads, were firing at the windows of the house from which their volleys were answered by indiscriminate shooting. The house eventually caught fire and was burnt out, the criminals being found dead, although it was suspected that at least two Associates escaped abroad.
Before the first World War, I had command of the 9th London Cadet Battalion, with the rank of Major, and when war broke out I offered myself for service, but owing to the importance of the X-Ray work then being carried out at the London Hospital where several hundred beds had been placed at the disposal of the War Office, my offer was not accepted. However, demands for X-Ray Specialists for active service became urgent and in 1916 I was commissioned by the Medical Department of the War Office for X-Ray Service in India and Mesopotainia and reached Bombay in August of that year, not to leave there until I took up my appointment in Madras in 1920 ! ! On arrival in
Eventually the day dawned when I felt I might try out the apparatus. I switched in and there was a terrific explosion—the top of a Gas Chamber in a Mercury Interrupter being blown to pieces, this being caused by an infiltration of air into the Chamber! Another week elapsed during which I had to stand over workmen in the bazaar, explaining and showing them how to make a new top and to fit this with the required electrical wiring! Again I was ready to try out the equipment, but this time I could not persuade any one to remain in the room as it was fully expected there would be another explosion, but when the owners of various heads pushed around door frames and over windows cells found the “mad sahib” still safe they came in and one servant at length and consented to sit at the couch so that I could take a trial radiograph of his hand. He sat there smiling amiably and feeling very important until I switched on the electric current and then things began to happen! It was still very damp in Bombay and as in those days the high tension leads from the induction coil to the X ray tube where only thin were thin brass spiral wire with no insulation, there were sparks every where and angry snaps the current preferring every path except the difficult one of overcoming the resistance of the X ray tube. My “Patient” , although rather alarmed, stood this for some time, but when a great spark flashed from the bare wiring to the tube holder near his head he just fled from the room and once again I was alone. Eventually heads again advanced cautiously through windows and door ways, but by this time the X ray tube had become “soft” enough to allow the current to pass and it began to glow with that beautiful apple green fluoresence not seen in modern X ray tubes. I managed to obtain a good radiograph but it was not there for any length of time as the great heat melted the film. This was averted in other and later radiographs by packing much ice below and around the processing dishes. Remembering all this, in the many departments I planed for south India in after years, I equipped all dark rooms with Frigidaire plant which kept the solutions down to 60* to 65*.
After a few months at Cumbala Hill, I was transferred to the permanent and chief military hospital, at Colaba on Bock Bay, where my difficulties were still greater than in the city, for the X ray department there was built on a jetty on the beach, and as the waves dashed against the walls when the tide was in, the apparatus became very damp. In this department, I worked with captain Shorten I.M.S and we tried every method of drying out our plant, including wiping it over with methylated spirit but found our supplies of this were inadequate as the Indian orderlies used to “Sample” the spirit!! The leakage of current damaged several X ray tubes so we began to discuss electrical methods of over coming our difficulties and after some hazardous experiments, found that if we earthed the negative side of the tube and coil, practically all our troubles were over. There was no electrical danger on this side of the circuit and to “Show off” we occasionally held that side of the tube with our bare hands while high tension current of 80000 volts was passing through it - we feeling no shock. This research was published in the “Journal of the Roentgen society” in 1917 and aroused world wide interest. Later captain Shorten left for east Africa – I stayed on at
I left Bombay in January 1920, having first been appointed by Government to a civilian post in Madras, whereas “ Radiologist to the Government of Madras”, I was instructed to organize a radiological service for the presidency; before taking up my appointment, I went to England on leave and during the next 4 months visited many new X ray departments and also conferred with several eminent men, who, like myself, desired to set up a professional standard for radiographers – the out come of these talks being the formation “ Society of radiographers” which now has a membership of several thousands.
It must have been somewhere around 1900 that
By March 1922 the adaptation had been completed and, also, tby that time two other new X ray Departments had been opened – one at Ootacamund, the other at Madura, all the equipment and apparatus for the latter having been provided by local Millowners at a cost of about 16,00 Rupees. This Department was placed under the charge of assistant surgeon R.A.D Graham, M.B., ch.b, who was transferred from the general Hospital X ray Institute.
The new Institute was opened on
My other experiment with precious stones was made about 1937 when I thought it might be possible to improve the colour of some stones by bombarding them with the Gamma Rays Radium. I therefore persuaded my jeweler friend Vumidi to loan me two water coloured large Sapphires of equal size and weight. One of these I packed in several hundred milligrams Radium Vumidi and I signed the sealed package which was placed in the Radium Safe; the control Sappphire we also sealed and signed and my friend took charge of it. 24 hours later we opened the packages but instead of the bombarded stone having become a cornflower blue Sapphire, which I had hoped for, this stone had changed to a brilliant golden colour and it appeared to be a topez! Vumidi would not permit me to experiment with more of his stock!
While in the temporary Institute, we saw a remarkable display by a fakir who, before a very large audience of Medical Students at
On another occasion, a lady passenger on a ship in the harbour on coming ashore slipped on the gangway and sprained her ankle – she was brought to the Institute for X ray examination and as the ankle was painful, I did not remove her shoe but made the radiograph with it on the foot ; on developing the film, I found that she was a potential smuggler, as the heel of the shoe had been hollowed out and then filled up jewels !!
A number of small items of research was undertaken at New Institute and two important schemes – (1) a series of 500 Radiographic examinations of Epiphysis as an aid to determining the age of a patient – after publishing this we had periodically to examine a number of young criminals! (2) the other scheme also involv3d a very large number of X ray examinations on Endemic Flourine Poisoning.
On the opening of the New Institute in 1934 this was equipped with the latest types of apparatus, including the first 400,000 Volt X ray Unit installed in the East, the Institute being acclaimed by the Medical & lay Press in United Kingdom and the U.S.A as providing one of the best Radiological Service in the World . The equipment had been kept up to date by adding new units such as Convergent Beam, Pendulam and another type of moving beam Therapy apparatus – long before important centers in
I trust that these “recollections” will have proved interesting to the reader and I conclude by conveying to the staff of the Institute my very best wishes for their happiness, long life and prosperity, adding, of course, my congratulations on the occasion of the celebration of the Silver Jubliee year of the Barnard Institute of Radiology.
Interesting note:
In 1921, 24 radiographs from the department in