Combat gases

Ofiensive Gas.— Thc ideal combat gas for on the tactical offensive hm id meet the folloxnng requiremeiits ... 

Defensive Gas.—The ideal combat gas for use on tin tactical defensive should al.so meet the al>ove n quirenicnts ( .vcrjit that it should Ik persistent rather than nonpersi.stent and it should be effective in low concentrations. 

Combat ga et iKafnp/ttoff) which cause more permanent injurieH, OBtoff illd K-Stoff. 

The first combat gas used ill the war was ethylbromacetate, which was employed by the French in rifle grenades as early as August, 1914. In November, 1914, owing to a. shortage of bromine from which brominated compounds could be made, chloracetone was substituted a.s a Ailing in the French gas grenades (1). 

On account of the scarcity of bromine, ethylbromacetate was di -placed by chloracetone in November, 1914, and was not used thereafter. Its use was, therefore, very limited and, aside from the fact that it wai the first combat gas used in the World War, this compound was not important. 

By tile term vesicant agents we denote those compounds which vesica tblister) the human and animal body on any surface, either exterior or interior, with w hicb they come in contact. This type of compound ron.stitute.s the fourth elaas of combat ga.sos u.sed in the World War. Most of them are highly toxic substances and nearly all produce multiple )>liysiological effects. Thus, some are fairly lacrimatory, others exert marked lung-injurant effects, while still others are systemic poisons. However, in all compounds classed as vesicants, the vesicant effect is so much iDore pronounced than their other effects as to constitute their dominant characteristic. WTiere the vesicant effect of a compound is... 

In searching for a more effective combat gas, therefore, the Germans hod available many data in the literature concerning mustard and had quantity production and test it in the field. This they did quite secretly in the spring of 1917 and were so ivelt satisfied with the rcsult.s obtained that they adopted it as an artillery-shell filling and jiecumulat< d a large quantity of these (Yellow Cross) shell before the Allies were aware of this development. 

Ethylbromacetate. In 1858, Perkin and Duppa combined bromacetic acid and ethanol to form ethylbromacetate. This compound earlier found service by French constables in 1912 to incapacitate criminals and expedite their capture. Officially the first combat gas employed in World War I, ethylbromoacetate was delivered in the form of rifle grenades (26 millimeters) by France in... 

E. S. Zhakabatirov and G. I. V yugov, Combating Gas and Dust in the Mining Industry, Scientific Papers of the Karelofinsk Scientific-Research Coal Institute, No. 7, Gosgortekhizdat (1963). 

In June 1940 the New York City Fire Commissioner, John J. McElligott, sent a representative to Washington to confer with the Chief, CWS on the problem of familiarizing fire fighters with methods of combating gas and... 

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