Out of necessity, Doctor Cluny Macpherson quickly came up with the idea of a gas mask made of fabric and metal. Using a helmet taken from a captured German prisioner, he added a canvas hood with eyepieces and a breathing tube. The helmet was treated with chemicals that would absorb the chlorine used in the gas attacks. He had invented the world's first gas mask. After making a few improvements, Cluny Macpherson's helmet became the first gas mask used by the British army.

      This Canadian's invention was the most important protective device of the First World War, protecting countless soldiers from blindness, disfiguremet and death through injury to their throats and lungs. Gas masks are standard protective equipment for most moden armies.

Text based on that posted on the website of the Library and Archives Canada -- www.collectionscanada.gc.ca

Source of the Macpherson Gas Mask photograph: Museum of Health Care at Kingston's website: www.museumofhealthcare.ca. Reproduced with the permission of the Museum.