88 PHYSIOLOGY AND NATIONAL NEEDS 



possible to arrange tliat the air containing tlie 

 noxious gas should be inhaled through charcoal 

 placed in the inlet to the mask. 



Hence chemists and physiologists together de- 

 vised these gas masks with which every one is now 

 familiar, and which so successfully overcame the 

 dangers of gas attacks. 



II. Wound Shock 



Let me now give you another example. You 

 all know how, in the prolonged and monstrous 

 battles of the war, men were stricken down while 

 bathed with sweat or drenched with rain, and you 

 know that, in spite of all the bravery of the bearer 

 companies and the E.A.M.C., it was not possible 

 at once to get them to the dressing-stations. 



Sometimes the wound at once led to a condition 

 resembling fainting, in which the soldier became 

 collapsed and senseless. Very often this did not 

 come on at once, but after a time the man became 

 cold, covered with a cold sweat, his skin pale, his 

 face drawn, pinched, and grey, his pulse rapid and 

 feeble, and his breathing quick and shallow. 

 Gradually he might become unconscious and die. 



This is the condition to which the name of 

 " wound shock " has been given. What is the 

 meaning of these symptoms ? What is wrong, 

 why is it wrong, how is it to be remedied ? Fortu- 



