In some way that may not
be revealed till the secret history of the war is published, the British
Intelligence Department obtained a copy of the lecture notes of the
instructions to the German staff giving details of the new system of gas
warfare to be started in December. Among the compounds named was
phosgene, a gas so lethal that one part in ten thousand of air may be
fatal. The antidote for it is hexamethylene tetramine. This is not
something the soldier--or anybody else--is accustomed to carry around
with him, but the British having had a chance to cram up in advance on
the stolen lecture notes were ready with gas helmets soaked in the
reagent with the long name.
The Germans rejoiced when gas bombs took the place of bayonets because
this was a field in which intelligence counted for more than brute
force and in which therefore they expected to be supreme. As usual they
were right in their major premise but wrong in their conclusion, owing
to the egoism of their implicit minor premise. It does indeed give the
advantage to skill and science, but the Germans were beaten at their own
game, for by the end of the war the United States was able to turn out
toxic gases at a rate of 200 tons a day, while the output of Germany or
England was only about 30 tons.
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