SPORT AND SCIENCE ON THE 
was even contemplated, and described the coal- 
fields and iron-mines in glowing terms. Sub- 
sequently his descriptions were revised and an- 
notated by the late Rev. Herbert Dixon, of Shansi, 
for the Pekin Syndicate. Further investigations 
and reports were made for the Syndicate by their 
engineer, Mr. J. G. H. Glass. Nevertheless there 
yet remains much to be done in the geology of 
the district, as the last two explorers confined 
their attentions chiefly to its mineral resources. 
The journey should be very instructive to any 
one wishing to study the geology of Shansi, for, 
owing to the general westerly dip of the strata, 
one passes through the whole series of the sedimen- 
tary rocks, from the Hu-t’o series (pre-Cambrian 
limestones, etc.), through the Sinian system (Cam- 
bro-Ordovician limestones, etc.), through the entire 
Shansi formation (shale and _ sandstone coal 
measures and overlying red sandstones of the 
Red Beds) to the Huang-t’u formation (loess 
and other quaternary deposits). 
On leaving Shih-chiah-chuang, the junction 
of the Chén-T’ai and Pe-Han Railways, one soon 
passes from the great alluvial plains of Chihli into 
rugged mountains, which are composed of the 
dark massive siliceous limestone belonging to the 
Hu-t’o or Nank’ou series. 
1 This limestone occurs also in the Wu-t’ai Hsien district 
of Shansi, besides forming a large mass of the mountains at 
the famous Nank’ou pass north of Peking, at which point 
254 
