THE WORLDS FIRST RADIOGRAPHS OF ANIMALS - THE ATLAS OF EDER AND VALENTA (VIENNA, FEBRUARY 1896)

Radiographs of animals are well preserved on 15 X-ray plates of excell ent quality in the first monograph written by Josef Maria Eder and Edu ard Valenta. Eder was director of the ''Imperial Teaching and Research Institute for Photography and Reprography'', which had one of the big gest induction units in Vienna. As a physicist, chemist, and scientifi c photographer, Eder was destined to experiment with X-rays from a pho tographic viewpoint. On January 5(th), 1896 the Viennese newspaper ''D ie Presse'' brought the news bulletin ''A sensational discovery'', on January 7(th), 1896 Eder started his experiments. Most of his pictures were completed by January 22(nd), 1896, the text was finished in Febr uary. Because of the low power capacity of the units at that time, thi n objects such as fish, frogs, snakes, rats and new-born rabbits were preferred. Various substances (wood, metal, gems) as well as medical u ses (fractures, foreign bodies in extremities, gall stone density) wer e examined. An Egyptian mummy was also examined for the first time. Th e physicist Ernst Mach encouraged the first stereoradiograph of a mous e. X-ray tubes, radiographic techniques (above or below table), film e mulsions, and developing solutions were tested within a few weeks.