'Early Steps Taken by the U.S. Government in Relation to B.W.

Before there was any unification of activity in b.w. several United States Government groups considered this subject independently and their efforts form the logical beginning of any narrative.

In 1933, Major (now Brigadier General) Leon Fox, M.C., USA, then Chief of the Medical Section of the Chemical Warfare Service, surveyed the possibilities of b.w. and printed his findings in one of the most comprehensible and complete papers on this subject. (See Section III, pp. 1-17.) It was his opinion that the difficulties of producing bacteria, spores, and toxins on a large scale and of storing these agents so that they might maintain their virulence, rendered b.w. more theoretical than practical. The ideal agent, in his opinion, was the anthrax spore. He also rated the dangers of botulinus toxin as feasible, but pointed out its sensitivity to heat and oxidation.' (f. 13)