, there is no unconformity. Covers a
large area in the northern part of China proper; absent in the eastern
Kuen-lun; occurs again in the ranges of S.E. China. In Liao-tung
Cambrian fossils have been found near the summit of the series; they
belong to the oldest fauna known upon the earth, the fauna of the
_Olenellus_ zone. It is, however, not improbable that in many places
beds of considerably later date have been included in the Sinian
system.

_Ordovician._--Ordovician fossils have been found in the Lung-shan,
Kiang-su (about 50 m. east of Nan-king), in the south-west of
Cheh-kiang and in the south-east of Yun-nan. Ordovician beds probably
occur also in the Kuen-lun.

_Silurian._--Limestones and slates with Silurian corals and other
fossils have been found in Sze-ch'uen.

_Devonian._--Found in Kan-suh and in the Tsing-ling-shan, but becomes
much more important in southern China. Occurs also on the south of the
Tian-shan, in the Altyn-tagh, the Nan-shan and the western Kuen-lun.

_Carboniferous._--Covers a large area in northern China, in the
plateau of Shen-si and Shan-si, extending westwards in tongues between
the folds of the Kuen-lun. In this region it consists of a lower
series of limestones and an upper series of sandstones with seams of
coal, which may perhaps be in part of Permian age. This is probably
the most extensive coalfield in the world.

In south China the whole series consists chiefly of limestones, and
the coal seams are comparatively unimportant. Carboniferous beds are
also found in the Tian-shan, the Nan-shan, Kan-suh, on the southern
borders of the Gobi, &c.

_Mesozoic._--Marine Triassic beds containing fossils similar to those
of the German Muschelkalk have been found by Loczy near Chung-tien, on
the eastern border of the Tibetan plateau. Elsewhere, however, the
Mesozoic is represented chiefly by a red sandstone, which covers the
greater part of Sze-ch'uen and fills also a number of troughs amongst
the older beds of southern China. No marine fossils are found in this
sandstone, but remains of plants are numerous, and these belong to the
Rhaetic, Lias and Lower Oolite. No Cretaceous beds are known in China
excepting in S. Tibet (on the shores of the Tengri-nor) and in the
western portion of the Tian-shan.

_Cainozoic and Recent._--No marine deposits of this age are known.
Although the loess of the great plain and t