A bullet in the base of a skull, viewed through x-ray. Photoprint from radiograph after Sir Arthur Schuster, 1896.

The x-ray probably shows the location, in another skull, of one of the bullets fired by Hargreaves Hartley, into the brain of his wife Elizabeth Ann Hartley at Nelson, Lancashire, on 23 April 1896. Arthur Schuster made x-ray photographs of the bullet in her brain on 2 May 1896. The present photograph may have been made in order to get an estimate of the length of exposure required for finding bullets in the head of the patient, Mrs Hartley" (conjectural note by Dr Norah Schuster, 1977). Earlier, The lancet had reported, "Dr Mackenzie Davidson of Aberdeen reports to us that he has obtained a photograph of the cranial cavity showing the position of a bullet clearly, also a photograph of the hip-joint showing a fracture of the neck of the femur." ('The new photography', The lancet, 28 March 1896, vol. 1, p. 875)

The print was made in 1896 under the direction of the British physicist, Sir Arthur Schuster (1851-1934). Schuster was then a professor at Owen's College (now part of the University of Manchester). He was one of the first to receive the offprint of an article entitled "Über eine neue Art von Strahlen", along with a set of prints from W.K. Röntgen (1845-1923), the German physicist who discovered x-rays in 1895. Sir Arthur's daughter Dr. Nora H. Schuster presented the prints to the Wellcome Institute Library in 1962

1896

1 photograph : photoprint from radiograph, albumen ; sheet 21.1 x 15.3 cm

Bullet in base of brain. Opinion of Dr. Symons, Brompton hospital. ... Lettering hand-written on back of mount by N.H. Schuster

Wellcome Collection 33177i