A DEADLY TOXIN

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 221, 5 September 1929, Page 5

A DEADLY TOXIN

SALT-SPOONFUL WOULD KILL MILLION MEN COULD BE SCATTERED FROM AEROPLANE WHAT WOULD BE USE OF PANOPLY OF WAR? [United Preu A»«oci»tion—By CableCopyright.) I United Service.) (Received 5. 11.10 a.m.) London, Sept. 4. “There' is a toxin which could be employed to kill millions of men," declared Professor Leonard Hill, when contrasting the power of the scientific laboratory with modern war machinery. “If men were as susceptible as guinea pigs to the toxin which shall be nameless—and there is every reason to think that they are—it woull appear that one salt-spoonful of this dry toxin would suffice to kill a million men. The toxin acts if inhaled or if it falls on the eye in powder form. If such a toxin were prepared and scattered from an aeroplane, what would be the use of the panoply of war?”

GAS THE POTENT WEAPON OF FUTURE WARS. EDUCATION OF CITIZENS URGED. lAuitrallan and N.Z. Press Association.) (Received 5, 8.50 a.m-) Sydney, Sept. 5. Addressing the naval and military section of the Medical Congress Dr. F. A. Magurie declared gas to be the most potent weapon of future wars and suggested that the authorities should educate citizens in the various kind- of gas likely to be used. It was possible to give every citizen a respirator and tell him how to use it. It might be possible, too, to provide a reserve store of respirators. General Barbar, Director-General of Medical Services, announced that the question of protection 'of the civil population was now under consideration. The Defence Department had already made provision for troops in Australia. He pointed out that in the event of war and an enemy spraying a certain district with gas it would be most desirable to evacuate as many people as possible.