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but, over a very restricted area. The difficulty was in ascertaining the source
of aniline which is a liquid with a very low vapour pressure so that for it to
have been present in the atmosphere in vapour form in sufficient quantity to
produce this effect it must have been heated or distilled off from somewhere in
the vicinity. The only plant in the vicinity where this might have been a possibility
was a colour works which, during some part of the night, would have been
up wind of the wharf but after detailed questioning no corroboration could be
obtained that any free aniline or aniline vapour was or could have been released
during the night. The acid conditions are more easily explained as, during some
part of the night, both the factory and the wharf would have been down-wind at
about a mile distant from Brunswick Wharf Power Station burning about 2000 tons
of coal a day. The wind in gusts produced squalls of rain which could have washed
out of the atmosphere a considerable amount of sulphur dioxide and deposited it
in a reasonably localized area.
The Wharf Manager had never experienced such a phenomenon in over twentyfive
years. This appears to have been an isolated incident which has not been
repeated so that we have had no opportunity of verifying the source of the aniline.
During investigations the co-operation of Medical Officers of Health in adjoining
Boroughs on both sides of the river, the Alkali Inspector and also the Factory
Inspectors, both medical and general, was sought, and a detailed chemical investigation
of the processes in all nearby factories was undertaken with negative
results.
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