Metal Masked Soldiers. The strange, frog-like men here shown are French soldiers wearing masks to protect their throats and lungs from the deadly chlorine gas used by the Germans. The masks are made of aluminum, with openings for the eyes and mouth. The eye openings are covered with glass, and the perforated mouth openings are packed with cotton saturated with hyposulphite of soda, the chemical which neutralizes the deadly gas and allows the soldiers to breathe freely and safely. Without the masks the gas would destroy the lining of the lungs and the passages of the nose and throat, almost always causing death.

International Film Service · [ca. 1910–1925]

[Information from item housing] Gas Masks