77 



the Sin-tan shale ; however, I have already brought forth the evidence for the 

 much older age of the latter group. Where is thea the position of the No. 8 

 coral limestone ? This is one question concerning the coral limestone which 

 must be left for future researches in field. 



Another question in connection with the coral limestone relates to its 

 geological age. Fkech distinguished the following forms in the material 

 collected by v. Richthofen in the said limestone along the Yang-tse-kiang 

 immediately below Sin-tan : — 



ZapJirciUis dclanoui M.-Edwards et Haime. 



Z. gucrangcri M.-Edwards et Haime ? 



MicJieliiiia favosa GoLDFUss. 



Battershyia, a new species. 



If these corals are correctly identified, there is no escape from the con- 

 clusion that the limestones belong to the Lower Carboniferous. As none of 

 these fossils, however, are illustrated, we are unable to form an idea of what 

 the corals actually are, or of the geological age of the limestones. But argu- 

 ing from the fact tiiat the Permian and Upper Carboniferous corals from 

 Japan, Korea and China, studied by Hayasaka and myself, are often hardly 

 distinguishable on cursory observation from the Lower Carboniferous forms of 

 Europe, we must constantly guard against early conclusions based on material 

 too scanty for such palaeontological study. 



The development of the Lower Carboniferous limestone with a rich 

 brachiopoda fauna in Shan-tung was maintained by Frech ; but I have up to 

 the present found no evidence in support of his assertion. This I have ex- 

 plained in detail in another paper. 



After all, the most probable one of various conjectures formed as to the 

 coral fauna of Sin-tan and the stratigraphical position of the coral limestone is 

 that i) the block of limestone with corals is perhaps derived somewhere from 

 the upper part of the cliff and belongs to the Mi-tsang limestone, and 2) that 

 the coral fauna is similar to, but not quite identical with that of the European 



i) Yabe: Is Lower Carboniferous really developed in Shan-tung, China? Jour. Geol. Soc. 

 Tokyo, vol. XXI II., No. 274. igi6. 



