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INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



Organization to which attached: The University of 



Egypt, subsidized by the State. 

 Purposes: (1) Research, biological in the wide sense 

 including physiology and chemistry, coral reef 

 problems, and oceanography. 



(2) Instruction. It is proposed to give general 

 instruction to senior students of the University 

 and possibly to secondary school teachers. 

 Scope of activities: Physical, chemical, and bio- 

 logical oceanography of the Red Sea. As the 

 Red Sea is still so imperfectly known biological 

 exploration and the formation of a reference 

 collection are likely to take a considerable amount 

 of time in the next few years. For instance, to 

 mention only the groups with which I have some 

 acquaintance, new spp. of Polychaeta and a 

 striking new coral have already appeared, though 

 collecting has only just begun. Examination of 

 living specimens of, e.g., the soft corals is likely to 

 reform the systematics of several groups. The 

 occurrence of Syllis remosa Mc.I. in shallow 

 water in the Red Sea is another indication of the 

 necessity for this preliminary survey. 

 Equipment: All buildings in wood and asbestos, 

 single story. One laboratory of four rooms total, 

 area 19 m x 5 m, and one sorting room, 6 m x 6 m, 

 on reef edge, connected with shore by dry stone 

 pier 150 m long and one additional store 6 m x 

 5 m on pier. 



Office Building, 25 m x 5 m, containing 2 office 

 rooms, director's workroom and large preparation 

 room. 



Three rest houses for research workers. 



Bungalows for director, clerk, and engineer. 

 Another has been added this year (1936) for a 

 scientific assistant. 



5 huts for sailors, drivers, etc. 



2 garages, general store, 2 fuel stores, 1 net 

 and boat store, workshop, and engine-house. 



1 launch, open 35 ft. x 8 ft. 6 in., 32 hp. paraffin 

 engine, with winch for nets, winch for water 

 bottles, Lucas sounder, to work up to 500 fathoms. 

 1 sailing boat, 30 feet long, 2 dinghies, and 2 

 canoes. 



There is no aquarium and nothing in the way 

 of a public exhibition, the .station being intended 

 purely for research. An outside tank, 10 m x 2 m 

 is set up on the seaward side of the laboratory 

 and a windmill and pump will be added to it next 

 spring. On failure of wind the electrically driven 

 pump supplying the laboratory will also supply 

 this tank. 



Library. The library has now all the Red Sea 

 and Indian Ocean expedition reports, monographs 

 on Red Sea fauna, etc., and a large number of 

 separate papers. A library building, museum, 

 etc., are to be built next summer, offices also to 

 be moved onto reef and the present office building 

 used for work on the Mabahith results. The 

 new buildings will contain laboratories for Director 

 and as.sistants, leaving the four original rooms en- 

 tirely for visitors. The chemical laboratory will 

 probably be moved to the shore building thus 

 making five rooms for visitors. 



Staff: Consists at present of Director Cyril Cross- 

 land, A. H. Gohar, Assistant, A. H. Nast second 

 Assistant (temporary), clerk, storekeeper, me- 

 chanic, sailors, and drivers. A scientific assistant 

 will soon be appointed, and a chemist of the 

 Faculty of Science will undertake water analyses. 

 An engineer is to be appointed soon. On com- 

 pletion of the station other scientific staff may be 

 appointed, permanently or temporarily. 



Provisions for visiting investigators: 4 visitors can 

 be accommodated, or 6 with a little crowding. 



Income: The station is on the budget of the Uni- 

 versity. 



Provision for the publication of results: Publication 

 of the results by the Government has been 

 approved by the Finance, and details will be 

 settled shortly. 



Supplementary note: 



A. The Red Sea affords the most northerly 

 extension of the Indo-Pacific fauna. This station 

 is, therefore, the most accessible point at which 

 the coral and other faunas of the tropics of the 

 old world can be studied. It is hoped that this 

 will enable the University of Egypt to produce 

 notable contributions to tropical ecology, et 

 cetera, and coral reef problems, and also that 

 European and American Universities will be able 

 to assist in the wide field thus opened up. 



B. The fauna in the immediate neighborhood 

 of the station is extremely rich. There are three 

 lines of coral reef between us and the open sea, 

 separated by water of average depths of three, ten, 

 and twenty fathoms. Outside is a large area 40 

 to 50 fathoms deep, the hundred fathom line 

 being about 6 miles from the station. Reefs two 

 or three hundred yards from the laboratory are as 

 rich in corals as any I have seen elsewhere. 



C. Having clear water right at the end of the 

 jetty simplifies and cheapens the installation very 



