William David Coolidge (1873-1975), an American physicist working for General Electric, introduced a new hot cathode x-ray tube in 1913, with articles sent to scientific publications, and demonstrations given to physicians and radiologists, many of whom saw the advantages for diagnostic purposes and cancer treatments. This early Coolidge tube was used at the University of Maryland.
Ref: William David Coolidge, “A Powerful Roentgen Ray Tube with a Pure Electron Discharge,” Physical Review 2nd Ser. 2 (1914): 409-430.
General Electric Company, Coolidge X-Ray Tube (Schenectady, N.Y., 1920).
Instrument designed for locating bullets and other foreign material in bodies. An inscription on the lid of the box reads “ETABLISSEMENTS GAIFFE / COMPASS DE MR LE MEDECIN PRINCIPAL HIRTZ / POUR LA RECHERCHE DES PROJECTILES.” The form was invented in 1907 by E. J. Hirtz, a French medical officer and head of physiotherapy at a military hospital, and widely used during World War I. Ladislas Adolphe Gaiffe (1832-1887) was an important electrical instrument maker in Paris who began in business in 1856. He was succeeded by his son, G. Gaiffe. By the 1920, the firm was trading as Etablissements Gaiffe-Gallot & Pilon.
Ref: L. Ombrédanne and R. Ledoux-Lebard, Localization and Extraction of Projectiles (London, 1918), p. 214.
The McIntosh Electrical Corporation of Chicago, successor to the McIntosh Battery & Optical Co., made apparatus for physiotherapy. An inscription on the face of this high voltage, low current machine reads “THE MCINTOSH NO. 5 / POLYSINE / TRADE MARK U.S. PAT. OFF. APP. FOR / SER. NO. . . / OPERATES ON DIRECT CURRENT / MFD. BY / MCINTOSH.”
Ref: J. M. Martin, Practical Electro-Therapeutics and X-Ray Therapy (St. Louis, 1912), pp. 173-177.
The case lid is stamped "ANTITOXIN SYRINGE.” The date of April 7, 1891 is stamped on the barrel. This was designed and manufactured by Anton Molinari in Woodbridge, N.J.
Ref: Anton Molinari, “Piston for Syringes,” U.S. Patent 449,883 (April 7, 1891).
Orange cardboard box containing one yard of corrosive sublimate gauze for field use in World War I. Typed on the box in black ink is: "B&B Corrosive / Sublimate Gauze / Compressed / 1 Yard / Prepared by / Bauer & Black / Chicago, U.S.A / Contract May, 1917." Corrosive sublimate, also known as mercuric chloride (HgCl2), was used as an antiseptic during the war.
U.S. Hospital Corps Belt, Model 1910. Khaki colored canvas belt with ten empty pocket pouches for medical supplies. Black metal closures. For field use by medical staff in World War I.
William Healy and Grace Fernald of Chicago used puzzles to study to abilities of delinquent children. This one shows one day in the life of a schoolboy. It was given to soldiers who failed the Army group examinations.
This test is in a black, cloth-covered paper box. It consists of two nearly square boards which are displayed next to one another. Each board has a cloth backing. A picture printed on paper is attached to the front. The pictures show a total of eleven scenes from the life of a schoolboy. Each scene has a square hole cut in it. The teat also has sixty square wooden pieces that fit into the holes in the boards. Each piece has a picture on the front and is numbered on the back. The pieces fit, ten to a row, into a wooden rack with six long indentations. Places on the rack are numbered from 1 to 60. A piece of black cloth nailed to the bottom front of the rack allow it to be removed from the box. The test also contains a blue pamphlet: William Healy, Manual for Pictorial Completion test II Cat. No. 46235, Chicago: C.H. Stoelting.
This test is a version (differing, at least, in its box) of a test described in; C.H. Stoelting, Apparatus, Tests and Supplies, Chicago, 1936, p. 157. See also C.H. Stoelting, List 350, Apparatus and Supplies for Practical Mental Classification Used by Dr. William Healy>, p. 7 in Stoelting’s publication Psychology and Physiology Apparatus and Supplies, Chicago, 1921.
Gray cardboard box containing a set of six iodine swabs for field use in World War I. Typed on the top of the box in black ink is: "B&B Iodine Swab / Enough for one Application in Each / Each Containing: 1 1/2 c.c. 3 1/2% Tincture Iodine / 70% Alcohol / 6 Iodine Swabs / Prepared by Bauer & Black Chicago, U.S.A." Inside the box are six glass tubes of iodine wrapped in paper with instructions for use in emergency wound care.
U.S. Army First Aid Packet for use during World War I. Brown olive drab painted metal case with "FIRST AID PACKET - U.S. ARMY / CONTRACT NOV. 2 - 1916 / BAUER & BLACK / CHICAGO, U.S.A. / TO OPEN PULL RING / PATENT APPLIED FOR" stamped on top. Ring pull tab on bottom to open packet.
Navy Nurse Corps cape worn as part of the indoor uniform during World War I. Navy blue wool cape with red lining. Button closure at front with several buttons lining the top and bottom of each arm hole. Two pockets with button closure at front. Blue wool belt with button attachments at waist.
United States Army. Medical Department. Division of Psychology
ID Number
1990.0334.01
catalog number
1990.0334.01
accession number
1990.0334
Description
During World War I, the U.S. Army needed to sort out the thousands of recruits arriving at training camps. Psychologists claimed that their young science offered an objective, efficient way to classify men, weeding out the mentally unfit. Intelligence tests available at the time had been designed for children, given individually, and in many cases were unstandardized. No one knew precisely what they measured or how these measurements related to military performance. Nonetheless, over 1,700,000 American soldiers took intelligence tests during the war.
Group Examination Alpha was for men who could read English. It tested the ability to follow oral directions, arithmetic, vocabulary, pattern recognition, general information, and “common sense.”
One of three pharmaceuticals in display bottles donated to the museum in 1926 by E. R. Squibb and Sons. The curator requested these specimens for use in an exhibition of official drugs added to the U.S. Pharmacopoeia,Tenth Revision (U.S.P. X), made official January 1,1926.