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Mustard Oil used by Dr Pirie

Working at Dundee Royal Infirmary, George Alexander Pirie began experiments into the clinical use of X-rays within months of their discovery by Wilhelm Rontgen in November 1895. Pirie continued his experiments until 1925, when ill health caused by prolonged radiation exposure forced him to retire (he lost both his hands and one eye). The following year he was presented with a Carnegie Hero Trust medal and pension. Along with Marie Curie and others, Pirie’s name is inscribed on the 1936 Hamburg Memorial erected in honour of those who suffered injury or death from their pioneering experiments. Pirie used this bottle of mustard oil to relieve the pain in his hands caused by his experiments.

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