The results of our studies on the reduction of the emission current from an osmium‐alloy‐coated dispenser cathode (derivative of theMcathode) due to exposure to various gases or vapors are reported. The primary interest of these studies is poisoning by chemical agents that might be encountered in the vacuum system of an induction linear accelerator. Of the constituents normally found in a tight unbaked vacuum chamber, the cathode is most sensitive to partial pressures of water vapor. Of the vapors studied which might be encountered in an induction accelerator, Freon was the most virulent poison.