On the radiologic diagnosis of cerebral aneurysms with plain films and cerebral angiography: a historical survey.

Within a few weeks of the announcement by Röntgen in December 1895 of “a new kind of ray,” the cartoons and poems appearing in many popular magazines and newspapers provide a fascinating window on the early printed records of the discovery of x-rays and give us a good idea of its reception by the general public (1). As illustrated by the above quote from Punch, not infrequently the records express a certain fear of the ghastly skeletal pictures, which seems to be a true reflection of the ignorance and pessimism expressed about the new rays. It wasn’t many years, however, before the triumphal course of events overcame the scattered opposition, and a new science was born. Before examining the early history of the roentgenologic diagnosis of intracerebral aneurysms, it is rewarding and fascinating to consider the history of the discovery of aneurysms and to plot their slow discovery by the “medical