October 15, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



367 



characteristic whicli is necessary for the pro- 

 duction of the alternating current. 



From a 6-ampere arc in helium at approxi- 

 mately atmospheric pressure and with a centi- 

 meter gap, 50 watts or more of alternating 

 current at 1,000 cycles may readily be 

 obtained. 



G. M. J. Mackay 

 Research Laboratory, 

 General Electric Co., 

 Schenectady, N. T. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Collected Studies on the Pathology of War 

 Gas Poisoning, from the Department of 

 Bacteriology and Pathology, Medical Sci- 

 ence Section, Chemical Warfare Service, 

 under the direction of M. C. "Winternitz, 

 major, M. C, TJ. S. A. Tale University 

 Press, N"ew Haven, Oonn. Cloth, 165 pages, 

 41 color plates, 83 black and white illustra- 

 tions, $20.00. 



The study of the pathological lesions pro- 

 duced by the war gases upon animals under 

 controlled experimental conditions was of emi- 

 nent practical importance during the war, and 

 quite justly enlisted the interest and services 

 of many of the foremost pathologists, both 

 here and abroad. "Without such control, it 

 would have been difficult and, in many cases, 

 impossible, to draw conclusions as to the com- 

 parative effectiveness of different types of gas 

 used in offense; and to estimate the protec- 

 tion afforded by various defensive measures. 

 Equally important was the desirability of de- 

 fining, so far as this was possible, the effects 

 of the various gases used by the enemy against 

 OUT troops, and to afford criteria to the pathol- 

 ogists in the field by which they might be rec- 

 ognized. 



The studies of Winternitz and his coworkers, 

 which were available to the Chemical Warfare 

 Service during the war, have now been made 

 generally accessible in a comprehensive and 

 beautifully illustrated monograph from the 

 Tale University Press. On the basis of a 

 very large experimental material, the gross and 

 microscopic Changes following exposure to 

 chlorine, phosgene, chlorpicrin, trichloro- 



methyl-chloroformate (diphosgene, superpa- 

 lite), dichloroethylsulphide (mustard gas), 

 cyanogen chloride and bromide, arsine, and 

 several organic arsine-halogen compounds are 

 minutely described. Unlike most of the re- 

 ports which have previously appeared, the 

 study includes a consideration of late residual 

 lesions as well as the acuter changes, and this 

 phase of the work will prove of particular in- 

 terest to those who still are seeking an ana- 

 tomical explanation for the chronic invalidism 

 which afilicts so many of the soldiers gassed 

 in the war. The writers find quite regularly 

 in the lungs after recovery from phosgene, 

 persistent emphysema and atelectasis, associ- 

 ated with obliterating bronchiolitis, and with 

 tubercle-like peribronchial nodules. On the 

 other hand, it is stated that " chronic changes 

 in the lungs after mustard gas inhalation were 

 infrequent and were confined to minute areas of 

 organization occurring in isolated bronchioles 

 or in the alveolar tissue near the margin of 

 the lungs. In no case was any large bronchus 

 found organized or occluded." In a few dogs, 

 localized ulceration or cicatricial stenosis was 

 found in the trachea. This rarity of perma- 

 nent lesions after gassing with mustard in 

 dogs does not accord with our own experience 

 in the human cases. Without entering into 

 details, it may be confidently stated that the 

 inhalation of mustard gas in man is frequently 

 followed by chronic changes in the entire res- 

 piratory tract. These differ, of course, in their 

 extent and severity, but in many cases there 

 results a destruction and deformity compar- 

 able to that of chronic pulmonary tuberculosis. 

 In this connection, it is perhaps proper to 

 emphasize the limitations of these and similar 

 experimental studies on the war gases, in their 

 application to human pathology. Whereas the 

 experimental worker with animals was in- 

 formed as to the kind of gas used, its concen- 

 tration and the duration of exjposure, none of 

 these data were available to the pathologist in 

 the field. Frequently, it happened that the 

 same soldier was exposed to several varieties of 

 gas within a short period; frequently, also, 

 there were complicating traumatic injuries. 

 Most disturbing of all were the supervening 



