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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  Among 
  these, 
  numerous 
  species 
  in 
  both 
  the 
  animal 
  and 
  the 
  vegetable 
  

   kingdoms 
  were 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  others 
  that 
  we 
  look 
  on 
  as 
  especially 
  

   characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  World. 
  For 
  instance, 
  the 
  only 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   globe 
  where 
  the 
  true 
  alligator 
  occurs 
  today 
  are 
  North 
  America 
  and 
  a 
  

   small 
  area 
  on 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  River. 
  Many 
  other 
  examples 
  of 
  like 
  nature 
  

   might 
  be 
  cited. 
  

  

  There 
  was 
  — 
  and 
  still 
  is 
  — 
  a 
  bird 
  life 
  wonderfully 
  rich 
  in 
  both 
  number 
  

   of 
  individuals 
  and 
  variety 
  of 
  species, 
  the 
  latter 
  including 
  terrestrial, 
  

   arboreal, 
  and 
  aquatic 
  forms. 
  

  

  Climate. 
  — 
  The 
  controlling 
  factor 
  in 
  the 
  climate 
  of 
  China 
  — 
  of 
  all 
  

   southeastern 
  Asia, 
  in 
  fact 
  — 
  is 
  the 
  alternating 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  mon- 
  

   soon 
  winds 
  and 
  their 
  influence 
  on 
  precipitation 
  (Cressey, 
  1934, 
  pp. 
  60- 
  

   64 
  and 
  passim). 
  The 
  summer 
  monsoon, 
  blowing 
  steadily 
  from 
  the 
  

   south, 
  off 
  the 
  equatorial 
  ocean, 
  is 
  warm 
  and 
  moist, 
  whereas 
  the 
  winter 
  

   monsoon, 
  from 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  the 
  continent, 
  is 
  dry 
  and 
  bitterly 
  cold. 
  

   These 
  distinctions 
  are 
  very 
  marked, 
  and 
  their 
  effect 
  is 
  to 
  divide 
  the 
  

   year 
  rather 
  sharply 
  into 
  a 
  hot, 
  rainy 
  summer 
  and 
  a 
  cold, 
  dry 
  winter. 
  

  

  The 
  Middle 
  and 
  Late 
  Pleistocene 
  periods, 
  when 
  the 
  vast 
  deposits 
  of 
  

   loess 
  soil 
  were 
  being 
  slowly 
  formed, 
  seem 
  in 
  general 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  much 
  

   drier 
  than 
  now 
  but 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  followed, 
  during 
  late 
  prehistoric 
  and 
  

   early 
  historic 
  times, 
  by 
  an 
  interval 
  of 
  rather 
  greater 
  rainfall 
  and 
  

   warmth 
  than 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  northern 
  China 
  today. 
  The 
  general 
  tend- 
  

   ency 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  the 
  past 
  1,500 
  years 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  lain 
  in 
  the 
  direction 
  

   of 
  growing 
  aridity, 
  interspersed 
  with 
  somewhat 
  wetter 
  phases. 
  All 
  

   these 
  climatic 
  fluctuations 
  have 
  influenced 
  human 
  activity 
  in 
  countless 
  

   ways, 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  still 
  clearly 
  visible. 
  

  

  ADJACENT 
  LANDS 
  

  

  Northwest 
  of 
  China 
  proper 
  are 
  the 
  lofty 
  plateau 
  of 
  Tibet 
  and 
  that 
  

   nexus 
  of 
  mountain 
  ranges 
  forming 
  the 
  Pamirs, 
  the 
  "Roof 
  of 
  the 
  

   World." 
  North 
  and 
  northeast 
  of 
  China 
  extend 
  the 
  elevated 
  plains 
  

   of 
  Mongolia 
  and 
  Manchuria, 
  wooded 
  on 
  the 
  east, 
  bare 
  and 
  tending 
  

   more 
  and 
  more 
  to 
  aridity 
  on 
  the 
  west. 
  Other 
  lands 
  — 
  Indo-China, 
  

   Korea, 
  and 
  numerous 
  great 
  island 
  groups 
  — 
  lie 
  to 
  the 
  west, 
  south, 
  and 
  

   east. 
  All 
  these, 
  together 
  with 
  China 
  itself, 
  form 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   globe 
  which 
  we 
  know 
  collectively 
  as 
  the 
  Far 
  East. 
  The 
  region 
  is 
  one 
  

   that 
  is 
  playing 
  an 
  increasingly 
  large 
  and 
  important 
  part 
  in 
  world 
  

   history, 
  as 
  we 
  all 
  realize. 
  

  

  PRIMITIVE 
  MAN 
  

   RACES 
  OF 
  EARLY 
  MAN 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  still 
  undetermined 
  exactly 
  where 
  the 
  human 
  race 
  originated, 
  

   although 
  we 
  may 
  at 
  least 
  be 
  sure 
  that 
  it 
  did 
  so 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  World, 
  not 
  

   in 
  the 
  New. 
  Recent 
  discoveries 
  have 
  revealed, 
  however, 
  that 
  numer- 
  

  

  