154 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



place that is apparently free from gas may become dangerous 

 from the material volatilized from the soil by the heat of the 

 sun's rays. It is stated that the British suffered more casualties 

 from mustard gas the first month after its introduction than 

 during all the earlier part of the war. Of the casualties in the 

 manufacture of poison gases, two-thirds were due to mustard 

 gas. While the later gas program of the Allies included phos- 

 gene, chloropicrin, lachrymators, diphenylchloroarsine and 

 certain other gases, the principal attention was given to the 

 manufacture of high quantities of mustard gas. 



Equally important are means of defense. Throughout the 

 history of Chemical Warfare we see tjie art of defense keeping 

 pace with the new means of offense. While it was compara- 

 tively easy to furnish protection against chlorine and phosgene, 

 the special war gases demanded increased study of absorbents, 

 such as charcoal, soda lime, and specially activated mixtures. 

 The first British box respirator is a marvel of achievement, and 

 will always be a monument to the memory of the late Lieut. 

 Col. Harrison of the British Anti-Gas Committee. And yet 

 one can imagine the disagreeable task of wearing this mask 

 with its tight nose stopper and uncomfortable mouth piece when 

 charging over the top with fixed bayonet and the determination 

 to win. And while we may say that the problem of defense 

 was satisfactorily solved, we forget the discomfort of the man 

 at the front in so doing. The French early recognized this fact 

 and developed their Tissot mask. This removed both the nose 

 clip and the mouth piece and increased the comfort of the mask 

 many fold and the efficiency of the men at least, 50 per cent. 

 While the later developments in American practice produced a 

 Tissot mask that combined a high degree of protection with a 

 maximum of comfort, the unfortunate fact remains that this 

 did not help the man at the front in the least. At the signing 

 of the Armistice he was still wearing the Standard Mask with 

 all its inconveniences. 



Research Method. It is worth while at this point to discuss 

 the methods used in chemical warfare research. Fundamen- 



