My third modus operandi: I attack the human nervous system, forcing people into a state of mental confusion. Within minutes, they pass out. When I work my way into the heart, I can seriously disturb the circulatory system. In this manifestation, people call me "poison gas."

An illustration and quote from The Autobiography of Poison Gas (Dalu Book Company, Xinjing [Changchun], 1943). Found in Virtue By Design: Illustrated Chinese Children's Books from the Cotsen Children's Library (Cotsen Occasional Press, 2000), ISBN 0966608437.

Besides the harrowing quote, this is the only information given about the book: "One of a series of 'autobiographies' of inventions, industries, and scientific processes, written in the first person."

See also one of my all-time favorite posts, on a Brecht/Grosz kids' book: "And even God, having lost all authority with His subordinates on earth, and having Himself forgotten the contents of the book He had once written, is found blundering down below. He too has to be stood up against a wall."