Some shells
gave off voluminous smoke or a vile stench without doing much harm, but
by the time our men got used to these and grew careless about their
masks a few shells of some extremely poisonous gas were mixed with them.
The ideal gas for belligerent purposes would be odorless, colorless and
invisible, toxic even when diluted by a million parts of air, not set on
fire or exploded by the detonator of the shell, not decomposed by water,
not readily absorbed, stable enough to stand storage for six months and
capable of being manufactured by the thousands of tons. No one gas will
serve all aims. For instance, phosgene being very volatile and quickly
dissipated is thrown into trenches that are soon to be taken while
mustard gas being very tenacious could not be employed in such a case
for the trenches could not be occupied if they were captured.
The extensive use of poison gas in warfare by all the belligerents is a
vindication of the American protest at the Hague Conference against its
prohibition.
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