In article , doozer
writes
Thanks for the warning about explosions and finger prints. I knew about
both but I didn't realize they exploded with quite that much force. I
will handle it with more care from now on.

If it helps, and someone else asked, I have included a picture of the
front of the bulb here

http://www.crazysquirrel.com/images/bulb/front.jpg

if nothing else I would be interested to know what type of bulb it is.

It is, as someone has said, a short arc discharge lamp. But it appears
to be a custom Philips design.
--
Tim Mitchell