24 FOUNDERS OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



seen them alive. His report on the distribution of animals 

 in the ^Egean Sea, which eventually appeared before the 

 British Association at Cork in 1843, was, a contemporary 

 tells us, a most important and philosophic summary of the 

 facts, which at once raised him to a high rank among living 

 naturalists. He defined, in the ^Egean, eight zones of depth 

 characterized by peculiar assemblages of animals, and he 

 " conjectured that the zero of animal life would probably be 

 found somewhere about 300 fathoms," so he named the 

 region below that the "Azoic zone "—a conclusion which 

 has since been found to be erroneous. Much of his zoological 

 work in the East was unfortunately never published, on 

 account of the pressure of other duties in which he became 

 absorbed on his return to London. 



The Council of the British Association gave him con- 

 gratulations and encouragement, and the material support of 

 a grant of £100, " to be expended in comparing the fauna of 

 the Red Sea with that of the Mediterranean." Forbes 

 therefore planned an extended expedition to Egypt for this 

 purpose, which was first postponed by his severe illness and 

 then abandoned when he was recalled in October, 1842, to 

 London to take up the duties of Professor of Botany at King's 

 College ^a post he had been elected to in his absence. 



There were probably few men then, and there are none 

 now, who could be elected to a post in botany, in geology, or 

 in zoology with equal success. We see him now holding two 

 such posts simultaneously, and he eventually went on to the 

 third. His professorship at King's College brought in less 

 than £100 a year, so he had to supplement that scanty 

 income by taking other work, and he applied for and was 

 appointed to the curatorship of the Geological Society, and 

 a few years later (1844) to the more important post of 

 Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey. 



During the years in London when he filled these several 

 posts, it is evident that his duties as Professor of Botany 

 took up comparatively little of his time and energies, and 



