56 auld: methods of gas warfare 



element of surprise in using a new substance that produces new 

 and unusual symptoms in the victims. 



Up to the present time there has been no material brought 

 out on either side that can be depended on to go through the 

 other fellow's respirator. The casualties are due to surprise 

 or to lack of training in the use of masks. The mask must be 

 put on and adjusted within six seconds, which requires a con- 

 siderable amount of preliminary training, if it is to be done 

 under field conditions. 



Among other surprises on the part of the Germans were 

 phenylcarbylamine chloride, a lachrymator, and diphenyl- 

 chloroarsine, or ''sneezing gas." The latter is mixed in with 

 high explosive shells or with other gas shells, or with shrapnel. 

 It was intended to make a man sneeze so badly that when he 

 puts on his mask he is not able to keep it on. The sneezing 

 gas has, however, not been a very great success. 



All bombardments now are of this mixed character. The 

 shells used are marked with differently colored crosses, and defi- 

 nite programs are laid down for the use of the artillerymen. 



As regards the future of gas shells, it should be emphasized 

 that the "gas shell" is not necessarily a gas shell at all, but a 

 liquid or solid shell, and it opens up the whole sphere of organic 

 chemistry to be drawn upon for materials. The material placed 

 inside the shell is transformed into vapor or fine droplets by 

 the explosion and a proper adjustment between the bursting 

 charge and the poisonous substance is necessary. Both sides 

 are busy trying to find something that the others have not used, 

 and both are trjdng to find a ''colorless, odorless, and invisible" 

 gas that is highly poisonous. It is within the realm of possibili- 

 ties that the war will be finished, literally, in the chemical 

 laboratory. 



The Germans have not altered their type of respirator for 

 some time, and it is not now equal in efficiency to the British or 

 American respirator. The German respirator, even in its latest 

 form, will break down at a concentration of 0.3 per cent of 

 certain substances. The German design has given more weight 

 to military exigency, as against perfect protection, than has the 



