Evening star., 1940-08-10
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

How footnote in typewriter COL
lege thesis by young Catholic scholastic
nearly IS years ago led to the prepara-
tion few years later Of the most deadly
Of all war gases was revealed at the
Catholic University of America here to-
day following the death in Massachu-
sets Sunday of DR.. James F. Norris,
credited with leading role in the dis
covery Of lewisite.
Back in 1907 Julius Neuwland, working
for doctor of philosophy degree in the
university laboratory. made a combina-
tion of acetylene and arsenic uerchloride.
He was studying the reactions of the
colorless gas acetylene with all sorts of
substances. His interests were purely
academic. Years later his basic expert
ments led to the first synthetic rubber
made in the world and are of funda-
mental importance in freeing the United
States from dependence on natural rub
ber from the East Indies in the present
world situation.
The combination with arsenic ter
chloride was only one of scores which he
made. The young priest got Whit of
the resulting gas. While 1t was not
enough to knock him out, it was enough
to convince him that the material was
dangerous and-l907 being time of pro-
found peace the earth over and Father
NeuWland being man of peace, who
never had dreamed of devising means to
kill his fellowmen-of no possible prac-
tical Importance. In his thesis, duly filed
in the university archives, he described
all of his acetylene experiments, but
apparently forgot all about this one until
1t was too late to incorporate it in the
main body of the paper.
After receiving his doctors degree,
Father Neuwland left Catholic Univer-
sity, eventually became professor of
chemistry at Notre Dame, won world
wide acclaim for his synthetic rubber,
and finally dropped dead about five years
ago while on visit to the same Wash
ington laboratory in which he accident
ly had hit upon the deadly gas BY 1918,
deep in other researches, he had COM
PiCbClS 2Ol SObGCll lllC ChpClll WdllCii
had caused him such an unpleasant few
moments years before.
After America entered the war a unit
Of the Chemical Warfare Service, COM
posed for the most part of enlisted men
who had had graduate training in chem
istry, was established at Catholic Uni
versity. The captain was DR.. w. Lee
7 puric ioH cf lo m; inv
tigate new forms of toxic gases, numer-
Gus suggestions for which were being
received by the War Department. Few
of the proposed gases were found to
have much merit.
Then Rev. Father Griffin, professor of
chemistry at the university, under whom
DR.. Neuwland had done his graduate
work and who had been chairman of the
committee of chemists that passed on
his thesis, happened to recall the foot
note. The old thesis was resurrected
from the college archives and Capt.
Lewis assigned his men to work on the
problem. 1t was soon apparent that this
ombination-known chemically as beta
chloro-vinyl di chloro arsene-was a
more deadly gas than any which had
been used in the war. 1t consisted of
combination of a single molecule of
acetylene and single molecule of ar
senic terchloride. The two substances
were mixed in various other proportions
and there are now several forms of
lewisite, each valuable for certain pur-
poses. None, however, Is quite so potent
killer as the original material described
by Father Neuwland.
The name of the captain in charge Of
the unit, to whom was due the major
credit for its development, was given
the new gas. Father Neuwland claimed
no credit whatsoever, since he had
sensed no possibilities in the material
he had found. A gentle, clustered man,
former associates say, he probably would
actually have resented his name being
attached to any deadly weapon.
The results at Catholic University were
considered a military secret, but they
were communicated freely to the French
and British chemical warfare services.
In England there was considerable ex-
perimental work and there the gas acttl-
ally was described publicly for the first
time. This has led to the mistaken i'm
preston that it was British discovery.
About so pounds of lewisite were man
ufactured at the Washington college, in
order to determine the most practical
means of producing it, Then a fac
tory capable of making the material in
tons was set up in the Midwest With
the sudden ending of the war all which
had been manufactured was destroyed.
Lewisite has no peacetime uses and is
dangerous to leave in storage. 1t is
heavy gas, adapted for use in attacks on
cities. There is no longer, of course,
anything secret about it-unless i'm
provements have been made of which
there has been no announcement. The
basic formula was revealed to the world
when the first World War ended.