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Some Problems of Gas WarfareAuthor(s): Ellwood B. SpearSource: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Mar., 1919), pp. 275-283Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/7061.
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PROBLEMS OF
GAS WARFARE 275
SOME PROBLEMS
OF GAS
WARFARE'
By Dr.
ELLWOOD B.
SPEAR
T
E
initial
se of
gas
by
theGermanst
Ypres
n
1915
nd
the
subsequentadoption
of
gas
warfare
by
the
allied
armies
introduced
large
number
of
problems
f
vital
impor-
tance
to
the
nations nvolved n
the
World
War.
While
these
problems axed to a verygreatdegreetheingenuity fthesci-
entist, he
engineer,
he
military trategist nd
the
manufac-
turer, hey
by
no
means lacked
that fascination
which charac-
terizes
all
research,
n
intellectual
ourney
nto the
unknown.
Although
his
fascinationwas
augmented
y
the
fact that
the
problemswere
nearly
all
new and
the field
almost
limitless,
nevertheless
he
flight
f
the
maginationwas
circumscribed y
the stern
condition
f
mmediate
ractical
utility nd the neces-
sity
for
rapid
solution.
Anotherfeature speciallyprominentn theearlystages of
gas warfare was the
unstable
nature of
the
problems.
The act
on the screen was
continually
hanging.
The solutions
of yes-
terdaymight
notmeet he
requirements
f
to-day,
nd the prac-
tise
of
to-daymight
become
archaic
by
to-morrow. The
kalei-
doscopic
nature
of
these
changes
can
be
best
illustratedby a
brief
ccount
of
the tacticsof
the
offensive
nd the
development
of
the
defense,
he
chief
featureof
which s
thegas
mask.
The first
bject
of
the use
of gas
by the
military
trategist
was, of course,to destroy he enemy. Withthis purpose in
view the Germansmade
their
first
as attack
bymeans
of poi-
sonous
clouds.
Chlorine was
compressed nto
cylinders hat
were
placed
in
their own
front-line
renches. The
cylinders
were fittedwith
a
suitable hose
and
nozzle
so
that at the ap-
pointed
ime
the valves could
be
opened
and the
gas
allowed to
escape.
Chlorine s
particularly
dapted for
this
method of
attack. It
is
fairly
asily compressible
nto
the
form f a
liquid,
but
six
atmospheres
eing
necessary
t
ordinary
emperature.
It is verypoisonous,one to two parts per ten thousandof air
sufficing
o
result
n
death
f
breathed
for
five
minutes. It has
the additional
property
f
being
heavy,
bout
two
and one-half
times the
weight
of an
equal
volume
of
air.
Consequently t
does not tend to
rise
rapidly
ntothe
upperair,
but,
on
the con-
1
Figures
1 to
8
inclusive are
published
with
the
permission
of
the
Director
of the
Chemical Warfare
Service.
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276 THE SCIENTIFIC
MONTHLY
-,
:
trary,
rolls
along
the
ground,
seeking out and fillingall the
low
places
such as
trenches,
dugouts,
shell holes and so on.
The
result of the attack is
I
i |now a
matter of history. The
French Colonial
black
troops
'z
t
t.t
broke
and fled. Who
can
blame
GERMAN
GASCLINDER
DETAILOFGA5YLlNIXR them
The Canadians went nto
FOR
15
this particular
sector
twelve
thousand strong. When they
were
relieved
five
days
later but two
thousand
remained
live.
A
very arge portion
f the ten
thousand
died as a resultof
the
effects
f
the
gas.
In
fact,
had it
not
been for
the
presenceof
mind
of
some of
the
officers
who ordered
the men to
put 17CM
MINENWERFER
AS
SHELL
wet cloths
over their
faces
and
lie
flat
on
the ground
face
downwards the entire
force 42,8
T or
would have been annihilated. Lab Y.9
Fig. 1 shows a German gas
cylinder
in
position in the
BM
trench.
Although
successful at, imes
this
form of gas warfare was :FIG.
2.
GE
RMIAN
GAS
SHE'LL.
seldomused in the later stages
of
the
struggle,owing to the inherent
disadvantages of the
method. In
the firstplace the windmust obviouslybe in the
right direction. It must not be too strong-less than twelve
miles
perhour-or
the gas
will be whirled
about and dissipated before the goal
is
reached. It must
not
be toolow or itmay
change
its
direction,
in
which case
the
offense
may
suffermorethanthe
defense.
In
the second place,
the greatest concen-
tration is at the
wrong
end, directly
be-
>
G,"
.
j1
fore the
trenchesof
the attacking
party.
Consequentlyf the gas is to be followed
by
an
infantry
tta,ck
he
offense
must
endure
more than
the
defense, r the at-
tack
must be
delayed until most of the
opportunities
reated
by
the
gas
are
lost.
A
much
more
effective
method
depending
IG.
3u
GtRmAe
GAS
SHELL.
upon
the
wind
was
being
developed
by
the
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PROBLEMS OF GAS WARFARE
277
American gas
offensive, he details
of
which
are not
yet
for
publication.
It was soon realized by bothsides that somemore
depend-
able meansmust be devised to
create an
efficient
oncentration
of
gas
in
theenemy's erritory
nd the
development
f
the
gas
shell
s
theresult
of
these
researches.
Figs.
2
and
3
give
sche-
matic views
of German
gas
shells.
Gas shells are made
for
both
large
and
small
caliber
guns.
The former
may
deliver
several quarts
of
the
poisonous iquid at
a
single
shot.
For certainkindsofwork,gas shells
have a great advantage
over even the high-explosive ariety. The latter may kill by
directhit
or
by
the
subsequent xplosion.
The
former
may
do
all
this;
but
in
addition he
iberatedgas may be carried o
con-
siderable
distancefrom
he
spot
where he
explosion
akes
place
and
gas
the
enemy
who has been
protected
rom
the
high
ex-
plosive by dugouts, tc.
However, the disastrous effects f both
the gas cloud and
the gas shell
are
largely ffset ythehigh
efficiency
f
the mod-
ern
gas mask,
and this
bringsus to
the
second
object
of the
military trategist,viz., to annoy and hinder, or in military
parlance,
to
"neutralize"
the
effectiveness
f
the
enemy.
It
will be obviouseven to the casual
observer hat the ability of
the
soldier to serve
a
gun,
to
shoot
or
to
transport upplies
is
greatly
reduced
f he
is obligedto wear a gas mask. In point
of
fact it is claimed
by military
men
thatthe effectivenessf
artillery
s
cut
down
sixty per cent.,
while the infantry ares
scarcely any better,
wo men
being
required
to
perform he
functions f one
unhampered y this
impediment.
For purposesof "neutralizing,"ordinarypoison gas may
of course be
employed.
An
occasional
gas
shell will prevent
the
enemy
from
removing
his
mask, but his life may be ren-
dered
almost unendurable
y many
substancesreally not gases
in
the accepted
ense of
the term.
Lachrymators r tear gases,
such as
benzyl
bromide,
re
heavy iquids
which
when sprayed
over the
ground
n
small
quantitiesby theexplosionwill cause
a
copious
flowof
tears
for
hours
if
the
eyes are not protected
by
the
gas
mask or other
device. Moreover
the celebrated
"mustard gas," also a heavy liquid, will cause burns on the
skin
of
such a
vicious character
hat the
soldier may be inca-
pacitated
for
months.
A
partial list of
gases that have been
employed
n
the
battlefield
s
given below.
Gas Clouds:
Chlorine.
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278
THE
SCIENTIFIC
MONTHLY
Shells:
.
.......
Phosgene.
Sulfur
trioxide.
Benzyl
bromide,
German T-Stoff.
Xylyl
bromide,
German
T-Stoff.
Dichloro-diethysulfide,
Mustard
Gas,"
German
Yellow
Cross.
Diphenyl-chlorarsine,
Sneeze
Gas,"
German
Blue Cross.
Trichlormethyl-chloroformate,
erman
Green
Cross.
Monochlormethyl-chloroformate,
German
K-Stoff.
Nitrotrichloromethane,Chlorpicrine."
Brominated-ethyl-methyl
etone.
Dibromo-ketone.
FIG.
4.
AN
AMERICAN
SOLDIER
Allyl-iso-thiocyanate.
WEARING
A CAPTURED
GERMAN
REs-
Dichlormethyl
ther.
PIRATOR.
The face
piece
is
made
of
Phenyl
carbylamine
hlorid
leather.
Hand
Grenades:
Bromacetone.
Chlorsulfonic
cid.
Bromine.
Dimethyl
ulfate.
Chloracetone.
Methyl-chlorsulfonic
cid.
THE
DEVELOPMENT
OF
THE
GAS
MASK
Whenthe
Germans
aunched
heir
first as
attack
they
were
provided
with
a crude
and
inefficient
evice
similar
to
the
one
shown
in
Fig.
6.
Later
they
developed
a much CANISTER
F GERMN
RESPIRATOR
more erviceable
mask
as
represented
in
Figs.
4
.
=L
R
and
5.
The
British,
as
SI-
-A'N
CI
alreadystated,first m-
ployed
wet cloth.
Even
damp
earth
was found
o
have
some
virtue
as
a
A
-iranIvks
of
baked
ea'rh
o*ekd
In7
protection
against
gas.
Potassivu
cerhen,tes
idol/to
and
covered with
powdered
charco*l.
In a
very
short
time
8-Chareal.
English
scientists
had
c-en?e
st-ee enoXad
wlth
devised
several
types
of
FIG.
5.
respirators.
These
con-
sisted
chiefly
f
cotton
wool
soaked
in
photographer's
hypo"
and washingsoda. The deleterious ffect f the latterupon
the
skin was
reduced
somewhat
by
adding
a
small
amount
of
glycerine.
The
wool
was
attached
o
a
cloth
hat
was
bound
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PROBLEMS OF GAS
WARFARE 279
around the mouth and
nose, as
shown
n
Fig. 6, or it
was held in
the
mouthuntil the clothcould be
placed in position. The woolwas
then
shoved up around the nos-
trils. These
primitive
masks
would
stop
a considerable
mount
of chlorine
f properly
cared for
and
adjusted.
Unfortunately he
soldier
too often dipped them in
the solution and did
not suffi-
cientlywringout the
excess iquid.
As a consequence he could not
breathe
freely, hought
e was be-
ing
gassed, and
frantically re-
peated
heoperation,ften qually I.
6
EARLT BRITISH
RRSPIRATOR.
unsuccessfully. Moreover, the
maskswere not carried
upon the person, utratherwere placed
in the trenches o that
the
soldier'
usually
got one that had
been
worn by some one
else. Beside the
obviously unsani-
tary
arrangement,
another disadvantage presented itself.
When the alarmwas given several menfrequently ushedfor
the
same mask with
the
inevitableresultthat some of them
were
gassed.
A
very
decided
improvementwas next
introduced n the
form
f
the
"
smokehood."
Fig. 7 shows one
of the atest mod-
els of
these fairly
efficient asks. Its great advantage lay in
the
fact that the
breathing urface was large, resulting n a
very
material
decrease
n
resistance. Anotherprominent ea-
_________________________
ture
was
the
valve that allowed
the exhaledair to escape. It is
made
of
rubber and
is called
technically
he
"flutter" valve.
I[
1
So successfuls
its-
peration
or
this
purpose
that
it
was
subse-
quently adopted in the latest
types
of
bothBritish
nd Ameri-
can box
respirators.
It
was
soon
realized
by
sci-
* | entiststhat while "hypo" and
alkalis
would
take care of chlo-
rine
and hexamethylenetetram-
ine
would stop large quantities
of
phosgene,
manyother
gases,
F0Im. 7.
BRITISH
SMOKE HOOD.
such
as
the
chemically luggish
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280
THE
SCIENTIFIC
MONTHLY
FIG.
8.
THE FRST AmERICAN GAS
FIG.
9. THH MOUTH
PIECE AND
Nosu
MASK.
SNUBBERS IN PLACE.
chiorpicrine,
ould not
be~
asily
removed
by
chemical
means.
It was therefore
necessary
to
combine
with the
chemicals
a
universal
adsorbent,
nd
carbon,
because it has this
property
to an exceptionaldegree,was chosen forthepurpose. In the
meantime he
British had
'invented
mask of
extraordinary
efficiency.
The
details
are
given
n
Figs.
8, 9,
10, 11,
12.
Fig.
13
represents
n
early
French
type
of mask.
THE AMERICAN
MASK
When
the
United States of Americ'a ntered
he
World War
the
newly organized
American
Gas
Defense had on its
hands
the enormous
problem
of
supplyi'ng very
soldierwho
went
abroad with n efficientrotectiongainstpoisongas, and every
soldier
in the concentration
amps
at home with a mask for
training
purposes.
The Gas Defense did not wait to
develop
FiG.: 10.
THE MOUTH
PILECE
AND
SNUBBERS'
FIG.
11.
T-HE
CANISTPER
STANqD-
ING
BESIDEI
ITS
CONTAINER.
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PROBLEMS
OF GAS WARFARE
281
an ideal
device,
but
wisely
chose
to
adopt
the British
type
of mask. Incidentallyhiswas
a
fine
tribute to the
British
scientist,
because
the
mask
was
mlich
superior
to
any
in
use
at
that
time
by the Euro-
pean
armies.
However,
Ameri-
can
scientistsdid
not
rest sat-
isfied
with
the
results
of their
allies,
but
on
the
contrary.
e-
gan
to
develop
he
existingde-
vices. It has been said that
Americans
invent
and
other
nations
improve
upon
the
in-
ventions
while
we
are
resting
on
our
oars.
In
this
particular
instance
the
ables
were
urned,
for
in
a
few
months
we
were
producing
carbon
for
gas
masks
fifty
to
one
hundred
times s valuableas anyknown
to
our
allies
and
certainly
vastly
superior to
that
which
the
Germans
were
using.
Equally
important
advances
were
made
in
the
soda-lime,
...........
.
FIG.
13.
AN EARLY
FREN7CH
MASK.
(~~~~~~~:8
K
'
~~~G
-8
A
FIG.
12.
CROSS-SECTIoN
AMERICAN
REoSPIRATOR. A
is
the
air
inilet. B
is
the
canister
containing
granules of
soda
lime
impregnated
with
sodium
perman-
ganate, and
carbon
granules
about one
quarter
the
size
of
ordinary
peas. D
is a
flexible
rubber
tube
the
end of
which, H, is held in the mouth. E, Is
the
outlet
flutter
valve
for
the exhaled
air.
I
represents the
nose
snubbers.
The
great
virtue
of
this mask
lay in
the
fact
that the
soldier
could
not
be
gassed
as
long as
he
breathed
through
the
tube
In
his
mouth,
even if
the face
piece
became
punctured
or
did not
fit
properly.
and
the
American
mask
soon
be-
came
the
object of
admiration
f
both
friendand foe. It shouldbe
said
in
justice
to
German
chemists
hat
they
too
succeeded
toward
the
close
of
the war
in
greatly
increasing
the
efficiency
of
their
carbon.
DEFECTS OF THE
MASK
Every
driver
of
an
automo-
bile
recalls
unpleasant
experi-
enceswiththe foggingor cloud-
ing
of
the
wind
shield in
cold
or
damp
weather.
The
same
prob-
lem
was
met
with
to an
accentu-
ated
degree
n
the
gas
mask.
The
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282
THE
SCIENTIFIC
MONTHLY
moisturefrom
the breath
or even from he eyes condenses
on
the eye pieces,causingthemto fog. In coldweather the con-
densation s
great enough
to create
droplets that hang
sus-
pended
or run down
in an irregular
manner
over the surface.
The result is
distorted
and obscure
vision. The
Germans
partially
overcame
this difficulty
y inserting gelatin-like
disks on the
inside of the
eye pieces.
Sooner or
later the
gelatin-like
substance
becomes
soft and sags,
so
that the
vision is imperfect.
Several fairly
efficient
nti-dimming
preparations
were compounded
by American
chemists
to be
applied to the inside of the lenses by the soldierbeforethe
mask
was requiredfor
use.
This problemwas
largely solved
in
the
latest type of
Americanmask
by a very
ingeniousde-
vice. The intake
manifolds
were carried
up
to a point di-
rectlyunderneath
he
eye
pieces,
so that
the cold
air played on
the lenses,keepingthem
cool on the inside.
As a consequence
the condensationwas
reduced
o a
minimum nd anti-dimming
compounds
were seldomnecessary.
The
nose
snubbers
nd
the
rubber ube
that was
held in the mouth
n the old mask
were
eliminatedn the newtype. This was a boonto the soldier,for
he
could
nowbreathe
n the
normalmannerthrough
he
nose,
thus
beingrelieved o
a very
considerable
xtentfrom he
dis-
comfort f
the
old type
mask.
Another
efectwas discovered
n the matter
f the
construc-
tion
of
the eye pieces.
All
the
armies
were using
celluloidbe-
cause it
would
withstandhard
usage. It was
found,
however,
that the surface
ofthecelluloid
oon
becamewavy and
the
re-
sulting uneven
vision caused
headaches, ndigestion
nd even
nausea. For this reason triplexglass that will withstanda
severe shock s employed
n the
atest
Americanmask.
Experience
with
long-continued
earing
of the gas mask
in
the field
provedthat the
soldier
became exhausted.
Some
interesting nd
valuable
physiological
xperiments evealed
the
fact
that
f one is
obliged o
breathe gainst
a resistance quiva-
lent to a column
f water two to six inches
high, n
inadequate
amount
of air is taken into
the lungs to
oxygenate
he
blood
sufficiently.
he
resistance
offered o the
air by
the
contents
ofthe canister n theAmerican nd especially heBritishmasks
was
much
too
high. Consequently
he
soldier when working
hard
did not
get
enough air
to purify
his
blood
and partial
or
complete
xhaustionresulted.
This
is
believed
to have been
a
large
factor
n
thecollapse
of
the
Fifth
British
rmy ast
March.
The
men
had been
obliged
o
wear
their
masks for daysbecause
of the constant bombardment
with
gas
and were exhausted
when the Germans
finally
ttacked.
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PROBLEMS OF GAS WARFARE 283
At the
close of
thewar a
new type
of
canisterwas
being
produced
n
America nwhich
he
resistance
was reduced
below
the
danger point.
The
new
canister
was
also designed o
meet
the
requirements f
the
atest
developments f
gas
warfare, he
"
smoke
problem.
Certain
substances,
such as
sulfur
tri-
chloride,were
used in
gas
shellsto
produce,not
gases, but
very
fine
particles
that
remain
suspended n
the air
oftenfor
long
periods. In thecase mentioned he sulfur rioxideuniteswith
moisture f
the air
to form iny
particles
f
sulfuric cid.
Many
of
these
small
particles
produced n this
or a
similar
manner
were
not
removedby
the
contents f
any
mask
in
use
on
the
battle
field.
The latest
American
anister
gives an
almost
per-
fect
protection
gainst
this
insidiousformof
gas
warfare.
With
regard
to
gas
warfarethe
American
Gas
Offense
eld
the same
views
as
their
contemporaries
n thefield.
The
best
kind of
defense s to
strikeback
harder
than the
enemycan.
Withthis end in viewenormous uantitiesofdeadlygases, es-
pecially
phosgene
nd
"mustard
gas,"
were
being
producedfor
our
armyat
theclose of
the
war and
preparations
were
nearly
completed
o
increase the
production
o
several
hundredtons
per
twenty-four
ours.