germans tear gas mask

7/27/2019 Germans Tear Gas Mask

1/10

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.

Accessed: 09/09/2013 09:50

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

American Association for the Advancement of Scienceis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and

extend access to The Scientific Monthly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.61.13.36 on Mon, 9 Sep 2013 09:50:49 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


2/10

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.



3/10

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



4/10

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.



5/10

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

This content downloaded from 193.61.13.36 on Mon, 9 Sep 2013 09:50:49 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


6/10

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



7/10

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.



8/10

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



9/10

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.



10/10

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.

germans tear gas mask

Documents