23 rd kpril, 1963.
HISTORY OF no MTELOPMENT 07 THE ny
IMEAS IN PROJECT ARIEL.
I had natuxally been pondering this idea
for some considerable time but the first definite
description of the concept is contained in a note
dated lot June, 1961, sent to Mr. Hobson. [Ref.
MkD HLTMR III, Pile 2, encl-30.1 The opening
paragraph is :-
"The thought behind this research
is that there may be an alternative and
better way of obtalnin the benefits of
smoking than by using a cigarette and,
in particular, a way which will avoid
the inconveniences of the smoke and ash.
Thus we envisage something which will
have the psychological and social attri-
butes of the present cigarette and which,
although not being lit, can be *smoked*
so as to give a vapour of suitable taste
and smell carrying with it nicotine in
the amount smokers are accustomed to."
Then later, on page 6 -
Me should then want to devise
some way of makin the aerosol available
in a form which would also satisfy the
psychological aspects of smoking. This
does not seem to be Impossible, and this
point may U illustrated by referring to
a possible device although this would
only be at the very beat a first step
towards a solution.
My present ideas are to have a
tube of the dimensions and appeazance
of a cigarette which would be airtight
and filled with a mixture of tobacco and
some material X, or with X and some non-
inflammable support on which nicotine had
been deposited. Both ends of this device
would be closed. To use this *cigarette*
the ends would be pierced, and It would be
puffed like an ordinary cigarette. The
first puff would take in a quantity of
air, and the oxygen in the air would
react immediately with the substance X,
which would have been chosen precisely
to give no volatile products but only heat.
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2
23 rd April, 1963.
"The he&, so generated would be at
too low a te=perature to burn the
tobacco but sufficient to liberate
a certain amount of the nicotine
and tobacco flavours. Thus the
smoker would obtain a puff of air
bearing nicotinet tobacco flaTour,
together with any other flairouring
matter that had been added. After
about 10 or 15 puffs the "cigarette*,
still having the same outward appear-
ance, would be used up and all of the
substance X would have been constumed.11
I worked fuxther at this concept, and discussed
it with Battelle when I visited them in September,
1961,
the result being that they produced on the 27th
October
a draft proposal for research on this Project
ARIEL.
Records show that I worked on this with them
until the proposal cill-In ted in a final form,
dated
3 rd January, 1962. Work started on March let,
1962.
2. The first report by Schachner and Williamson,
dated June 20th, 1962, contal'a the first
reference
to the idea of an I - r tube contal n' tobacco or
nicotine-bearing material from which nicotine is
liberated by heat generated by the burning of some
material in a surrounding tube. Various devices
are shown in Pig. 3 in this report. This report
also contA4"n references to the necessity for
form-
ing a nicotine aerosol by self-condensation, or a
nicotine cant-4r1rg aerosol by condensation on the
particles of some other aerosol. It is clearly
pointed out that on3,v by the use of an aerosol
can
a reasonable amount. of nicotine be got to the
mouth
of the smoker. In this report there in also clear
mention of the "amoka-forming chanber"t which we
subsequently called the *nucleating chambern.
On 27th June, 1962, Dr, Haselbach visited me
at home and I made a note of zq discussions with
him EARIEL I, file 1, encl. 58J, in which is con-
tain d this reference to Schachner and
Williamson:-
"They have already come up with the
following quite promising idea.
The idea is that the outside cylinder
would be ignited and would then smoulder
peacefully away, thereby transferring
enough heat to the inner tube to make
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3 -
23 rd April, 1963.
nit possible to draw in some Of
the nicotine. It might well be
necessary to adjust the moisture
content of the inner rag, and
possibly increase the =oi'1.lder
rate of the outside tobacco.
This device is attractive
because it would have the outside
appearance and smoulder appearance
of a cigarette, and even give some
tobacco aroma from the side stream.
The absence of visible smoke from
the ftain-stream* would be scarcely
noticeable."
The conclusion from this is that the overall
concept of a device providing nicotine without the
combustion products of tobacco, but yet which has
many of the social and pa7chological attractions
of a cigarette, is due to Charles Ellis. 38 is
also responsible for the idea of a mixture of
pyrophoric material with tobacco.
Schachner and W4111--mon jointly are responsible
for the idea of the inner tube of nicotine-bearimg
material with the outer wrapper to provide the
heat,
and are also responsible for the concept of the
nucleating chamber.
4. Throughout the whole of this work to date
there has been a close 11nison between Charles
Ellis,
Schachner and Williamson, with frequent visits and
interchange of reports.
NJ
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CZD
BATCo document for Province of British Columbia 12
November 1999