South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-04-07
An AntiSeptic From
the Sea
ey Woods Hutchinson, VI. ID.

ern war comes from sea-water, so
also does its antidote. There may
possibly be traces OF other poison
Gus gases combined with chlorine.
but the human vivisection test, the
symptoms Of its victims as they gasp
in agony and fight for breath and
finally die, correspond quite closely
to the poison tests for chlorine and
bromine, and show no discoverable
trace Of the effect Of any other pois-
on.
Besides almost all other known
poisons would be extremely expen-
sive 70 use in such huge quantities
as would be required TO kill in the
open air. and above all the hendish
stuff must be cheap.
Fortunately the same eager readi-
ness 10 attack and unite with living
substances, which makes this chlor-
inc gas so deadly, supplies a pro-
lection against II, in that II promptly
com bines with other chemicals the
moment it is brought in contact with
them and forms an almost harmless
substance.
BY one of the many miracles of
chemistry the fiercely burning and
poisonous gas, chlorine, the moment
that it touches a simple alkali. like
ordinary soda, is converted at once
into that harmless article OF diet
called from the name Of its parents,
the fierce gas and the bland alkali.
chloride of sodium" or common
salt.
The Saving Respirators.
So that by supplying the soldiers
in the trenches exposed to poison gas
with masks or respirators stretching
across nose and mouth, saturated
with a solution of soda. usually
either hyposulphite OF soda or the
bi-borate OF soda, commonly known
as bOrax. or washing powder the
fumes Of this deadliest gas are
promptly turned into common salt,
like Lots wife in the Bible story.
So that, as incredible as it may
sound, the only effect Of this deadly
gas when stopped by the soda mask
is to make the sheets OF linen or
cotton taste salty instead of soapy.
But the soda must be wet in or
der to work this transformation, as
the gas cannot combine with a dry
substance, and that is the reason
why it is necessary to keep these
poison masks constantly moistened
with water
1t is fortunately possible to fll
the mesh OF their cloth with enough
borax TO last for several hours ex-
posture or even more, but water. OF
course, will evapo-ate quickly.
Eternal vigilance in the way of re-
mOistening or Of keeping the masks
at hand bathed in solutions of soda
is necessary for safety.
Many pitiful tragedies were re-
ported from the front before this
fact had been realized by the SOL
diers; men suddenly Weakened to face
the choking fumes found that their
trusted masks had dried, and were
no more protection than a folded
handkerchief against the poison gas.
BY a merciful offset of nature. If the
gas is cheap, its antidotes on the
poison masks are even cheaper and
more accessible, so that there is rea-
son to hope that it's future use will
prove as useless as IL is vicious and
cruel.
The Gas Made Useful.
But il would be very unfair to per
NIT the impression for a moment
that this destructive use of the sea-
gas was its chief or even one of its
important applications.
On the contrary, IL is one OF the
smallest and last discovered-would
IL could have been overlooked en-
tirely-and least significant, though
spectacular enough.
Although these gases were found
too poisonous and DANGEROUS for
general use when floating free in the
air. it was early discovered that
when harnessed or loosely combined
with other substances so that they
would be given off slowly and in
small amounts their poisonousness
gave them a high degree of value
as disinfectants and later as anti
sept .cs.
Also, it was found that the prompt
ness and viciousness with which they
would attack living substances or
tissues expended themselves with
special vigor upon any coloring mat
ter which might be present, so that
fabrics exposed to them, either un-
der water or in a moist atmosphere.
were quickly deprived Of any color
they possessed or, in other words,
bleached.
After various experiments, a COM
bination of chlorine with soda or
lime was found TO work best for
this purpose, and hence there came
into being the now well-known
bleaching powder, or chloride OF
lime.
BY curious and cOnsoling coinci-
dence the very same war which saw
the free gas chlorine used TO destroy
human life also saw the invention,
or rather adaptation, of one of the
bleaching combinations Of chlorine
and soda as an antiseptic dressing
for the horribly ragged and filthy
wounds produced by shrapnel.
These wounds were so enormous.
so horribly pulped and lacerated,
and so blown and ground and full
Of germ-laden filth from the soil
torn up by the shell that our for
mar triad and frYStad a1ffSautfCS