Williams, Francis H., M. D. (1852–1936) [ Francis Henry ]

The Röntgen [ Roentgen ] Rays in Thoracic Disease

[ no place ]: The American Journal of the Medical Sciences December, 1897. First Separate Edition. 24 pages (last blank). 8vo (6 x 9 1/8 inches) Printed tan wrappers, stapled. Minor soiling, tanning to the wrappers Clean internally. The offprint issue. Very Good. Wraps. [27665]


X-Rays (Roentgen Rays) were discovered in 1895 and very quickly found interest in the medical community as a way to see "inside" without apparent adverse effects.

Francis Henry Williams was an early practitioner of x-rays, in 1896 publishing a paper estimating the heart size by the use of the fluoroscope, the "first application of x rays to cardiology". (G/M 5/2804.1)

In the current paper, Williams outlines a year of work examining 500 patients, 100 of which were surgical patients, using x-rays.

Radiology in May 1953 published a nice tribute to Williams. From the abstract: "It is well for radiologists to remember and to pay tribute to those pioneers who laid the foundation and cornerstone of modem radiology.

In 1852, one hundred years ago, Francis Henry Williams was born in Uxbridge, Mass. At the age of twenty-one he was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1877, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Harvard University, and the following two years he devoted to medical study in Europe. In 1879, he began his career as a practicing physician in Boston. At the Harvard Medical School, he was appointed successively, Instructor in Materia Medica and Therapeutics, and Assistant Professor of Therapeutics.

In 1892, Dr. Williams had initiated bacterial examination at the Boston City Hospital, where he was visiting physician, and in 1894 he was the first in his community to use antitoxin in the treatment of diphtheria. It is, therefore, easy to appreciate his interest and vision in pursuing the field of radiology following the discovery of roentgen rays in 1895 and of radium three years later.

He began his work with roentgen rays in 1896, transporting many of his patients to the Rogers Laboratory of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to examine them with the fluoroscope. Eventually, a small room in the basement of the Boston City Hospital was provided for this purpose by the Trustees.

Previous clinical experience definitely influenced the attitude of this physician toward the status of the roentgen examination in diagnostic problems. To his mind, such a procedure involved as close a clinical relationship as does palpation, auscultation, or percussion.

By 1898 he had publicly discussed the application of roentgen methods in the diagnosis of thoracic aneurysm, pericardial effusion, cardiac hypertrophy, pulmonary tuberculosis, emphysema, and many other intrathoracic conditions. In 1899, he began his work with Dr. Walter B. Cannon and carried out some of the very early investigations on the human alimentary tract.

This pioneer very early gave heed to protecting himself and his patients from the rays emanating from the x-ray tube. He reached the completion of his long and useful career without physical blemish resulting from untoward effects of radiation either from x-rays or radium.

He, with the able co-operation of his friend, Dr. William Rollins, was instrumental in the production of many devices; among them, the fluorometer, for the mensuration of x-rays (1902) and radium salts (1903); the “see-hear,” a fluoroscopic screen combined with a phonendoscopic diaphragm for noting intrathoracic sights and sounds simultaneously; and a mechanical stereoscopic fluoroscope involving the use of two disks rotating on one shaft."

ITEM SOLD