It could possibly be a form of the tungsten arc lamp or "Pointolite". The latter is the trade name for the lamp which was manfactured by Ediswan.

Various forms of this exist in which an arc is struck detween two electrodes without recourse to very high voltages to initialise the discharge. In some a moving contact is made by thermal expansion, in others by ionisation from an adjoining filament.

In all cases a "ballast" or series resistance is required to limit the current which is normally fed from some 100 volts d.c.  It seems that this ballast is located in the stem of the lamp  - hence the ventilation holes.The light produced is white approximating to daylight and emanates from a very small area of about two square millimetres and can therefore be readily focussed.  Applications include microscopy and technical photography.

Agreed that more detail would be helpful to ensure that this is correct! How many connections at the base?  Does the stem contail a resistor?