Black smoke

The black smoke, or black powder, is a fictitious poisonous gas in H. G. Wells' 1898 science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, used by the Martians to eliminate groups of humans, especially artillery crews, and conveyed by shells fired from a gun-like "black tube" carried by the Tripods' whip-like tentacles. Any animal inhaling this deadly smoke is killed almost instantly, but the smoke becomes harmless on contact with water. The Martians would dispel it after each use with jets of steam, leaving only a residual, "cindery" black powder, which reminds the narrator of what he "read of the destruction of Pompeii". The smoke is very dense, and can be avoided by climbing to higher places. Although Wells never explains the smoke's mechanism in the novel, he mentions that it may bind with argon to become toxic. In reality, argon cannot combine with other elements, with the marginal exception of fluorine, but chemical weapons were widely used in human warfare after Wells' novel was written, especially in World War I.

Orson Welles' radio adaptation dramatizes the effects of the black smoke: The poison is depicted as being potent enough to render gas masks useless, as do modern nerve gases.

The only accurate screen appearance of the black smoke is in Pendragon Pictures' film adaptation, wherein the Martians only use the smoke twice, and it is not described in any detail.

The black smoke is briefly mentioned in the 1978 musical version, where a tripod releases it while engaging the Thunder Child and later when the narrator is trapped. Its effects are not mentioned, however. This is likely the result of an earlier usage being removed at the script editing stage. This musical version featured musicians known as the Black Smoke Band.

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