Blog Vol II. 28, Let us Remember: Dr. Cluny Macpherson
On November 11, we remember all those who gave and sacrificed for this country and for our freedoms. In the past week I have been reading a great book by Ted Barris, a Canadian Military Historian, called Rush to Danger. Barris dedicates a whole chapter to a physician who served with the 1st Newfoundland Regiment in WWI.
Dr. Cluny Macpherson, was from Newfoundland, and served in the war as a field physician. He was instrumental in developing an effective gas mask after the Germans used chlorine gas at Ypres for the first time on April 22, 1915. The gas devastated the French and Algerian lines, and the Allies had to come up with a solution to this noxious weapon, real quick.
Really terrible, chlorine gas is nasty, causing major damage to the lungs and leading the victim to drown in their own fluids. The gas when mixed with tears produces hydrochloric acid, resulting in burns and blindness. Protection is absolutely necessary.
The initial protective mask that was used mimicked a surgical mask, like the one we wear today for Covid. It was pressed over the mouth and nose, but gave no protection to the eyes. Two scientists, Baker and Watson, worked with Dr. Macpherson to revise this design. The doctor drew up a design that covered the whole head, and he then made it out of Viyella cloth with a mica window to see through and a breathing tube to exhale from.
After a near fatal exposure, an upgraded design was needed. A secret ingredient, hyposulphite of soda was used to douse the new mask. Eureka, the soldier could carry on with no adverse effects from the gas.
Dr. Macpherson found that mica was too brittle and prone to cracking, allowing deadly gas through. As an alternative, at the time there was a photographic film in use that was flexible and allowed light to pass through, only drawback, the film was explosive! Dr. Macpherson discovered that there was a new material, triacetyl cellulose, which could be made into film that was non-flammable. He was able to procure a large amount from a French supplier, and produced the first gas mask, with protection for the lungs and for the eyes, that worked.
Over the course of the war, 22 million Macpherson masks were made. Dr. Cluny Macpherson never sought royalties, “I belong to a profession which does not register patent discoveries, but gives them freely to humanity.”
Great story. Inspiring. I highly recommend any of Ted Barris’s books.
On this day let us remember,
the good doctor, Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington Optometrist
