Excerpt from The Lethal War Gases, Physiology and Experimental Treatment: An Investigation by the Section on Intermediary Metabolism of the Medical Division of the Chemical Warfare Service at Yale University

With the entrance of the United States into the war a small group of men connected with the Bureau of Mines were appointed a committee by Director Van H. Manning for the pur pose of investigating toxic gases employed in warfare. The Chairman of the committee was George A. Burrell (later Colonel Burrell), who was designated Assistant to the Director. TO Professor Yandell Henderson of Yale University was given the task of organizing the Medical Division to study the physiological effects of war gases and the institution of therapeutic measures.

The importance of the investigation is attested by the extremely rapid growth of the organization, the chemical branch of which was finally located at the American University in Washington, the Medical Division having Yale University for its center. This organiza tion, developed under the Director of the Bureau of Mines, was supplied with funds by the Army and Navy, and formed the nucleus of what was later known as the Chemical Warfare Service, the War Department creating such a branch of the Army by absorption of this portion of the Bureau of Mines.

So long as the organization retained a civilian personnel the work was under the direction of Director Manning, Professor Yandell Henderson serving as Chairman of the Medical Division. With the transfer of the organization to the War Department Major General Wm. L. Sibert became Director of the Chemical Warfare Service, and Colonel Wm. J. Lyster was appointed Officer in Charge of the Medical Division. For the purposes of this volume a recital of the various ramifications of the branches of the war gas investiga tion would lead too far afield; the immediate interest attaches to the development of the Medical Division. The Medical Division as first instituted comprised four sections as follows.

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