"I wish those people who write so glibly about this being a hol War, and the oraters who talk so much about going on no matter how long the War lasts and what it may mean, could see a case - to say nothing of 10 cases - of mustard gas in its early stages - cold see the poor things burnt and blistered all over with great mustard coloured suppurating [pus-filled or leaking] blisters, with blind eyes . . . all sticky and stuck together, and always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke." - Vera Brittain, from Testament of Youth

Vera Britain was a nurse during World War I. Why do you think she described the effects of mustard gas in such detail?