Anticipating the story about the projects of military insulating gas masks, it is worth mentioning the unusual idea of the professor of Kazan University, the future head of the Imperial Military Medical Academy Viktor Vasilyevich Pashutin (1845-1901). The main field of the scientist's activity was associated with pathological physiology, but he devoted a lot of time and effort to fighting the plague. In 1887, Pashutin proposed a model of a sealed anti-plague suit equipped with a filtration and ventilation system.
VV Pashutin's costume design to protect doctors and epidemiologists from the "black death". Source: supotnitskiy.ru. A - a reservoir of clean air; B - pump; C - filter for cleaning the incoming air; e - tubes with cotton wool; n - tubes with pumice stone impregnated with sulfuric acid; o - tubes with pumice stone impregnated with caustic potassium; q - valves and air humidifier; e-h - suit ventilation tubes; k - outlet valve; j - mouthpiece; s - exhalation tube; t - inhalation tube with valves; i - inhalation valve. (Pashutin V. V., 1878)
The material of the insulating suit was white gutta-percha fabric, which is impervious to the plague stick. Pashutin was based on the results of the research of Dr. Potekhin, who showed that gutta-percha materials on sale in Russia do not allow ammonia vapor to pass through. Another advantage was the small specific gravity of the material - the square arshin of the samples he studied weighed no more than 200-300 g.
Pashutin Viktor Vasilievich (1845-1901). Source: wikipedia.org
Pashutin, perhaps, was the first to invent a system of ventilation of the space between the suit and the human body, which significantly improved the conditions of difficult work in such equipment. The filter device was focused on killing bacteria in the incoming air and included cotton wool, potassium hydroxide (KOH) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Of course, it was impossible to use such an isolation suit for work in conditions of chemical contamination - it was a typical equipment of an epidemiologist. Air circulation in the respiratory and ventilation systems was provided due to the user's muscular strength; for this, a rubber pump was adapted, squeezed by an arm or a leg. The author himself described his remarkable invention as follows:. The estimated cost of Pashutin's suit was about 40-50 rubles. According to the method of use, after working in a plague-infected facility, it was necessary to enter the chlorine chamber for 5-10 minutes, in this case breathing was produced from a reservoir.
Almost simultaneously with Pashutin, Professor OI Dogel in 1879 invented a respirator to protect doctors from the alleged organic pathogens of the "black death" - at that time they did not know about the bacterial nature of the plague. In accordance with the design, organic contagium (as the pathogen was called) in the inhaled air had to die in a hot tube, or be destroyed in compounds that degrade protein - sulfuric acid, chromic anhydride and caustic potassium. The air purified in this way was cooled and accumulated in a special reservoir behind the back. Nothing is known about the production and real application of Dogel and Pashutin's inventions, but most likely they remained on paper and in single copies.
Protective respirator Dogel. Source: supotnitskiy.ru. FI: S. - a mask with valves hermetically covering the face (one opens when air is inhaled from the reservoir, and the other when exhaled); B. is a reservoir of impermeable material for air purified by passing through a heated tube (ff). Valve for filling and for conducting air into the breathing apparatus (C); FII: A. - glass funnel, or made of solid gutta-percha. Valves in silver or platinum (aa). Stopper (b); FIII: a.- a tube for introducing air, which passes through a liquid (sulfuric acid) in a bottle (b), through chromic anhydride (c) and caustic potassium (d), from which there is a glass tube for connection with a valve device; FIV.- glass or metal box with a tube for introducing air (a), where disinfectants are placed (c). Tube for connection with a tube from valves; ФV. - a diagram of a glass valve made by Professor Glinsky (from an article by Dogel O. I., 1878)
By the beginning of the 20th century, the level of development of insulating devices was closely correlated with the strength of the chemical industry. Germany was the first in Europe, and therefore in the world, in terms of the level of development of the chemical industry. In conditions of a lack of resources from the colonies, the country had to invest a lot in its own science and industry. By 1897, according to official data, the total cost of the “chemistry” produced for various purposes was close to 1 billion marks. Friedrich Rumyantsev in 1969 in his book "Concern of Death", dedicated to the notorious IG "Farbenindustri", wrote:
Thus, it was the production of paints that allowed the Germans in a relatively short time to establish the production of chemical weapons on an industrial scale. In Russia, the situation was diametrically opposite. (From the book of V. N. Ipatiev "The Life of a Chemist. Memoirs", published in 1945 in New York.)
Despite this, the intellectual potential of Russian science made it possible to create samples of protective equipment, which became necessary in the face of a real threat of chemical warfare. Little-known is the work of the employees of Tomsk University under the leadership of Professor Alexander Petrovich Pospelov, who organized a specialized Commission on the question of finding ways to use asphyxiant gases and combating them.
Professor Pospelov Alexander Petrovich (1875-1949). Source: wiki.tsu.ru
At one of its meetings on August 18, 1915, A. P. Pospelov proposed protection from asphyxiant gases in the form of an insulating mask. An oxygen bag was provided, and the exhaled air saturated with carbon dioxide passed through an absorption cartridge with lime. And in the fall of the same year, the professor with a prototype of his apparatus arrives at the Main Artillery Directorate in Petrograd, where he demonstrates his work at a meeting of the Commission on Choking Gases. By the way, in Tomsk, work was also underway to organize the production of anhydrous hydrocyanic acid, as well as to study its combat properties. Pospelov also brought materials in this direction to the capital. The author of the insulating gas mask was again summoned to Petrograd (urgently) in mid-December 1915, where he already experienced the work of the insulating system on himself. It turned out not quite well - the professor was poisoned with chlorine and had to undergo a course of treatment.
The design and procedure for putting on the oxygen device A. P. Pospelov. As you can see, the device used a Kummant mask. Source: hups.mil.gov.ua
However, after a long period of improvements, Pospelov's oxygen device was put into service in August 1917 on the recommendation of the Chemical Committee and ordered for the army in the amount of 5 thousand copies. It was used only by special units of the Russian army, such as chemical engineers, and after the war the oxygen device was transferred to the arsenal of the Red Army.
In Europe, military chemists and orderlies used Draeger oxygen apparatus of a simplified and lightweight design. Moreover, both the French and the Germans used them. Balloon for O2 was reduced in comparison with the fire-rescue model to 0.4 liters and was designed for a pressure of 150 atmospheres. As a result, a chemical engineer or orderly had about 60 liters of oxygen at his disposal for 45 minutes of vigorous activity. The downside was the heating of the air from the regenerative cartridge with caustic potassium, which made the fighters breathe warm air. They also used large Draeger oxygen apparatuses, which almost without alterations migrated from pre-war times. In Germany, small devices were ordered to have 6 copies per company, and large ones - 3 per battalion.
