The geological events happened since the beginning of the building of theraised coral reefs may be summarized as follows: 1. The period of the formation of raised coral reefs seems to coincidewith the last interglacial stage, at least in Asia. This will be termed the“Tateyama Reef Stage.” In this period it was not the climate of the wholeworld, but the location of latitude that was different from that of present.Latitudes of places in Asia were about 5 degrees nearer to the equator than theyare now. The climate on the same latitude and the same altitude was the samethen as now, but that of the same locality was different. The distribution ofcoral reefs at that time surpassed its recent limit-North Ryukyu Islands-andreached as far as Tateyama, though near which they were more or less incompletein development. 2. Following this Tateyama reef stage, polar drift took place and Asiamoved to its present position on latitude. Owing to the retarding adjustment ofthe earth’s crust to its rotation, regression of the sea took place in this part ofthe globe. Thus the sea floor along the western Pacific coasts was up-lifted tosuch an extent (see annexed map) as to be subject to aeolian weathering, whilehigh mountains on the continent penetrated above the former snow-line to bearnumerous glaciers. This is the so-called “Tali glacial stage.” The climate of thisstage in Asia was not much different from that of present as a whole, though temperature at the same locality decreased as the altitude increased. The amountof altitude increased probably equals or approximates to the amount of loweringof the snow-line at that time, or to the depth of the drowned valleys, namely,1,200 meters on lat. 27° N (Yulungshan), 1,300--1,400 meters on lat. 29°--31° N (Minya Gongkar, Kangting and Taining in Sikang), 1,400--1,500ineters on lat. 34° N. (Kii Troughs in Japanese Islands and Chagra in LittleTibet), 1,700 meters on lat. 43°30′ N (Bogdo Mountains in Sinkiang), 1,600--1,700 meters on lat. 51° N (Altai in Siberia) and 1,300 meters on lat, 66° N(Pekulnei Range in Siberia). Consequently the marginal island festoons of easternAsia became connected with the main continent while the entire region lyingbetween the continent and the Pratas Island, Formosa, Ryukyu Islands, JapaneseIslands and Kamchatka appeared as a dry land with exception of a part of theJapan Sea and Ochotsk Sea (which were probably salt seas) and a narrow linearone along the inner border of the island are of the Ryukyu Islands and OchotskSea with an outlet to the east. The Philippine archipelago was connected withFormosa. The Changpai Range in Manchuria was, with their extension throughthe present Chihli Strait, in connection with the Taishan massif in Shantung,thus forming a longer and greater range-the Old Changpai Range--, facing theTaihang Range in the west. Purthermore, the drainage was also different fromthat of present. The Gulf of Chihli was probably a fresh water lake indicatedby the existence of the fresh water mollusca in the beds lying under the recentmarine ones in Tientsin. The Liao River, coming down from Manchuria,meandered through the Gulf of Chihli and became confluent with the rivers fromHopei and Honan provinces, to How further southward, passing by the presentposition of the Tungping and Tushan lakes, which marks the old course of theformer Liao River, so as to meet the Yellow River and flow still southwardpassing through the Hungtse and Kaoyu lakes into the Yangtze, which debouchedinto the sea by Kyukyu Islands. The distribution of recent plants in NorthChina and South Manchuria as well as the spreading of land animals in Asiaduring the latest geological times as mentioned by Osborn (1911) and others,demands such a favourable environment as stated above. Thus the old LiaoRiver divided North China and South Manchuria into two distinet provinces forplant life, one was the Taihang Range and the other the old Changpai Range,each having its own particular environment for the plants. Traces of such adifference in plant distribution can still be detected. The present distribution ofland animals and plants in the Japanese Islands and in adjacent regions on the Asiatic continent is also explicable only on the assumption that the islands weredirectly connected with the continent proper at least once very late in geologicalhistory. This assumption is generally admitted by geologists and biologists; butthe exact age is still a matter of dispute. The age of the latest land connectionof the marginal island festoons of East Asia to the main continent was believedby Yabe (1929A, 1929B) to be between Pliocene and Pleistocene; Osborn (1910,pp. 322, 274), from the study of the mammals on the other hand, set the agein post-glacial time. According to the result of my research, such a 1and connec-tion was apparently effected during the last glacial stage or the Tali glacialstage of Asia. 3. Following the slow adjustment of the earth’s crust to the rotation theup-lifted parts of the continent was gradually submerged until the present geo-graphical and climatical conditions prevail. Before laying down the pen I want to express my hearty thanks toProfessor H. Yabe of the Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Tohoku ImperialUniversity, Sendai, Japan and to Professor P. L. Yuan of the Department ofGeology of the National Tsing Hua University, Peiping (now at Kunming), fortheir helpful suggestions and valuable informations, I am also indebted to Dr.T. K. Huang for careful reading of the manuscript. The geological events happened since the beginning of the building of theraised coral reefs may be summarized as follows: 1. The period of the formation of raised coral reefs seems to coincidewith the last interglacial stage, at least in Asia. This will be termed the “Tateyama Reef Stage. ” In this period it was not the climate of the wholeworld, but the location of latitude that was different from that of present. Latitudes of places in Asia were about 5 degrees nearer to the equator than theyare now. The climate on the same latitude and the same altitude was the samethen as now, but that of the same locality was different. The distribution ofcoral reefs at that time surpassed its recent limit-North Ryukyu Islands-andreached as far as Tateyama, though near to them were more or less incompletein development. 2. Following this Tateyama reef stage, polar drift took place and Asiamoved to its present position on latitude. Owing to the retarding adjustment of the earth’s crust to its rota tion the sea floor place on this western part of the globe the former snow-line to bearnumerous glaciers. This is the so-called “Tali glacial stage. ” The climate of this stage in Asia was not much different from that of present as a whole, though temperature at the same locality decreased as the The amount of altitude increased probably equals or approximates to the amount of lowering of the snow-line at that time, or to the depth of the drowned valleys, namely, 1,200 meters on lat. 27 ° N (Yulungshan) 1,400 meters on lat. 29 ° - 31 ° N (Minya Gongkar, Kangting and Taining in Sikang), 1,400--1,500 inters on lat. 34 ° N. (Kii Troughs in Japanese Islands and Chagra in Little Tibi), 1,700 meters on lat. 43 ° 30 ’N (Bogdo Mountains in Sinkiang), 1,600-1,700 meters o n lat.51 ° N (Altai in Siberia) and 1,300 meters on lat, 66 ° N (Pekulnei Range in Siberia). Attributable the marginal island festoons of easternAsia became connected with the main continent while the entire region lying between the continent and the Pratas Island, Formosa , Ryukyu Islands, Japanese Islands and Kamchatka appeared as a dry land with exception part of the Japan Sea and Ochotsk Sea (which were probably salt seas) and a narrow linearone along the inner border of the island are the Ryukyu Islands and OchotskSea with an The Philippine archipelago was connected with Formosa. The Changpai Range in Manchuria was, with their extension through the present Chihli Strait, in connection with the Taishan massif in Shantung, thus forming a longer and greater range-the Old Changpai Range-- Facing theTaihang Range in the west. Purthermore, the drainage was also different fromthat of present. The Gulf of Chihli was probably a fresh water lake indicatedby the existence of t he fresh water mollusca in the beds lying under the recentmarine ones in Tientsin. The Liao River, coming down from Manchuria, meandered through the Gulf of Chihli and became confluent with the rivers fromHopei and Honan provinces, to How further southward, passing by the presentposition of the Tungping and Tushan lakes, which marks the old course of theformer Liao River, so as to meet the Yellow River and flow still southwardpassing the the Hungtse and Kaoyu lakes into the Yangtze, which debouchedinto the sea by Kyukyu Islands. The distribution of recent plants in NorthChina and South Manchuria as well as the spreading of land animals in Asiaduring the latest seed times as described by Osborn (1911) and others, demands such a favourable environment as stated above. Thus the old LiaoRiver divided North China and South Manchuria into two distinet provinces forplant life, one was the Taihang Range and the other the old Changpai Range, each having its own particular environment forthe plants. Traces of such adifference in plant distribution can still be detected. The present distribution ofland animals and plants in the Japanese Islands and in adjacent regions on the Asiatic continent is also explicable only on the assumption that the islands weredirectly connected with the continent proper at least once very late in geological history. This assumption is generally admitted by geologists and biologists; but the exact age is still a matter of dispute. 1929A, 1929B) to be between Pliocene and Pleistocene; Osborn (1910, pp. 322, 274) from the study of the mammals on the other hand, set the agein post-glacial time. According to the result of my research, such a 1and connec tion was apparently effected during the last glacial stage or the Tali glacialstage of Asia. 3. Following the slow adjustment of the earth’s crust to the rotation theup-lifted parts of the continent was gradually submerged until the present geo-graphical and climatical conditions prevail. Before laying down the pen I want to express my hearty thanks to Prof. H. Yabe of the Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Tohoku Imperial University, Sendai, Japan and to Professor PL Yuan of the Department of Geology of the National Tsing Hua University, Peiping (now at Kunming), fortheir helpful comments and valuable informations, I am also indebted to Dr.TK Huang for careful reading of the manuscript.