Abstract

Richthofen's China-II

This article presents information on the book "China: Ergebnisse eigner Reisen and daranf gegr¨ndeter Studien," by Ferdinand Freiherrn von Richthofen. Three of the most original and attractive chapters of this volume are devoted to an analysis of all the physical processes, meteorological and geological, that have been active in forming and transforming the steppes, and to an extension of this discussion to the geographical condition of Europe and the U.S., in quaternary times. The classical investigations of Richthofen showed that of 211,908 shells from the European loess, all were land-snails except 33 individuals, which were fresh-water snails. Moreover, they were almost exclusively species that now live only at elevations between 4,000 and 7,000 feet in the Alps, or in more northern latitudes. Not the least of the many fruitful generalizations put forward by Richthofen are those concerning the direct and reactionary influence of the climate on the surface configuration of Central Asia and of the mountains of High Asia, and thus on the historical and ethnographical development of the Europe-Asiatic continent.