Terrifying (British?) Gas

When the Nazis invaded the Low Countries, there were terrible rumors of a German "nerve gas." Well-equipped soldiers, so the stories went, turned submissive, and whole companies died like flies. No such weapon was ever used, but Hitler's propagandists frightened a lot of people with the rumors.

Last week a carefully worded announcement, authorized by Sir Harry Garner, chief scientist of the British Ministry of Supply, seemed to say that Britain--and perhaps her enemies--now has a nerve gas after all. Practically odorless and invisible; it irritates neither eyes, skin nor respiratory tract in time for warning. A drop of the liquid in the eye or a few whiffs can be fatal. Clothing is no protection, and victims die of suffocation a half-hour after the compound touches bare skin. Prompt use of atropine and artificial respiration is the best treatment.

Was the announcement meant to warn foreign embassies as well as inform British doctors? A ministry spokesman would only say, "It's well for people to know that we're prepared.""

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