Chlorine is one of the first that we would think of, I suppose that it is a gas that is familiar to all boys who have done Chemistry, the gas that we could make very easily in a test tube—and the gas that we tried to get our innocent and possibly less informed friends to smell; we enjoy; ed their distress and splutierings. Chlotine was, as I have stated before, the first gas that was used on a large scale in modern warfare, it has now been replaced as it had many disadvantages. There are however still times when it can be used as it is very suitable under certain conditions, It is, however, a gas that can be easly detected and the means of neutralizing it are not very dif-cult even on a large scale.
"Phosgene. This is a gas that is used very considerably as an intermediate in many chemical processes, so that the danger of this product is not confined to war usage. One of the most unfortunate aspects of poisoning with this gas is the fact that often serious symptoms from contact may be delayed for some time. It is a colourless gas which fumes in moist air. This fuming in moisture feature of the gas makes its use in a country like Britain not altogether very satisfactory. For to use this gas as a war time weapon, a medium of destruction, it is nec-assary to have dry air for in the moist atmosphere such as one can so often get at home, its fume and its presence is easily detected. Gas masks make good protection against Phosgene for it decomposes with measure of ease in the canister. Further, a shower of rain can in a short time decompose it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.