“DEW OF DEATH.”
DEADLIEST CHEMICAL OF THE WAR. It is an interesting fact that the deadliest chemical for use in military operations was discovered by the Allies, though it was not ready for employment in the field when the armistice was signed. Of this substance details are given for the first time in a popular work by General Amos De Fries and Major C. J. West, both of the United States Army, in a recently publish book, “Chemical Warfare,” which contains an exhaustive account of the whole history of gas warfare.
The chemical in question was called Lewisite, after Captain Lewis, of the American Army, its discoverer. Its‘technical name is “chorovinyldichloroarsine,” and it is a faintly yellow liquid, three times more dangerous than the terrible mustard gas. “Not only is it a vesicant? (cause of burns) of *about the same order as mustard gas, but the arsenic penetrates the skin- of an animal, and three drops placed on the abdomen of a mouse are sufficient to kill within two or three hours. It is also a powerful respiratory irritant, and causes violent sneezing. Its possible use in aeroplane bombs has led General De Fries to apply the term ‘The Dew of Death’ to its use in this way.”
The secret was communicated to the British chemical service, and, “unfortunately,” as the writers of this book state, it was released by them to the world, thereby making hostile Powers a valuable present.
The new poison gases have many peace applications. Cyanogen bromide is useful for killing rats and vermin in storehouses, and is safe to use. Chloracetophenone would be valuable to the police, as it produces no permanent injury but causes “smarting and very profuse tears.” With it, say the authors, “huge crowds can be set to weeping instantly, so that no man can see and no mob will continue once it has been blinded with irritating tears.” Diphenylaminechlorarsine, which causes violent vomiting but not death, could be used for the prqtection of safes and strongrooms. The authors p<y generous tributes to the work of the British Chemical War Department and to its skill and r•search.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19220113.2.64
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 13 January 1922, Page 6
Word count
Tapeke kupu
355“DEW OF DEATH.” Taranaki Daily News, 13 January 1922, Page 6
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.