All bone breaks and fractures are not created equal. A complete fracture is when the bone is broken in two; a greenstick fracture is when the bone does not crack the whole way through; a comminuted fracture is when a bone is shattered or crushed; an open fracture is when a bone pokes through the skin; and a bowing fracture is just what it sounds like (the bone bows but does not break). Before the days of medical imaging technology, such as xrays and xray accessories, doctors had to feel where a break was prior to treating it. Considering that the worst thing to do with a broken bone is move it, this method was very painful indeed. In 1895, however, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen accidentally discovered an image cast from a cathode ray generator, and named it X Radiation (xray for short).