Shells, chemical cyanogen chloride

Another hurdle that remained was the chemical instability of cyanogen chloride which had a tendency to polymerize. That is, the short molecules of the compound would join together spontaneously to form large molecules of a new compound. Sometimes the reaction took place so rapidly that the container exploded. Polymerization within bombs or shells also meant a wastage of the munition, since the new compounds were relatively harmless as agents. 

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