METHODS OF GAS WARFARE 73 



The mask must be put on and adjusted within six sec- 

 onds, which requires a considerable 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 definite programs are laid down for the use 

 of the artillerymen. 



As regards the future of gas shells, it should be em- 

 phasized 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 trans- 

 formed 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 trying to find a "colorless, odorless, and in- 

 visible" gas that is highly poisonous. It is within the 

 realm of possibilities that the war will be finished, liter- 

 ally, 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 de- 

 sign has given more weight to military exigency, as against 

 perfect protection, than has the British. Another thing 

 that weighs against changes in design is the fact that the 

 German, already handicapped by the lack of certain mate- 



