Images(4)

Tube, Vacuum

Object number2015.90.1

Manufacturer W. and B. Manufacturing Company

Manufacturer Corning Glass Company

Manufacturer General Electric Company

Date1920-1929

MediumWood/Glass/Metal/Fabric/Rubber(?)/Plastic(?)

Credit LineGift of Ross H. Smith, Jr.

DescriptionX-ray tube. Rectangular wood framework housing a metal and glass x-ray tube (vacuum tube). One metal pulley on each end with electrical wire (conductive wire) wound around pulley. Tube is made of yellow glass and has black end caps.Dimensions18.125 x 6.125 x 24.813 in. (46 x 15.6 x 63 cm)
MarksGlass tube has raised text maker's mark around rim "W.&B. MFG. CO. / NEW YORK" and "CORNING MADE IN U.S.A."

Tube has black end caps with raised text maker's marks "W.&B. MFG. CO. / NEW YORK CITY".

Metal electrical socket at back end of tube has inscribed maker's mark "660 W. 250 VOLTS / GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. U.S.A."
Historical NotesX-ray tube used by pioneering radiologist and founder of the Pittsburgh Roentgen Society, Dr. John F. McCullough, the donor Ross H. Smith, Jr.'s uncle. The tube most likely dates from the 1920s. McCullough was a radiologist and also taught the same at the University of Pittsburgh. He himself had been a Pitt graduate in 1908. In 1932, he formed the Society with a group of twenty other local physicians with the aim of advancing their field. It was the first of its kind in the nation. He was working at a time when there was little understanding of radiology, and in fact, it was not covered by insurance until 1965. The Roentgen Society is named after German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen who discovered X-rays in 1895. The medical uses for X-rays were realized almost immediately.

Previous owner Dr. John F. McCullough

Related institution Pittsburgh Roentgen Society

Related person Wilhelm Roentgen (German)

Related institution University of Pittsburgh

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