Religion.—Apart from the immigrant Chinese, two types of religion are prevalent in this region, Islam and Buddhism. The followers of the former religion include both Mongols and Turks. They are, as in China, always a turbulent element in the popula tion. They are often somewhat fanatical, and on the whole fairly strict, even to the extent of not smoking cigarettes, a practice which has become so general over the Muslim world. Observa tions made along the border land a few years ago by Buxton suggest that the Muslims are spreading to a certain extent at the expense of the Buddhists, probably owing, among other things, to the low birth-rate of the latter, but there do not appear to be any definite statistics. This increase among the Muslims is especially noticeable in the new towns which are springing up on the site of ancient cities which have fallen into ruin in the last few hundred years (since the great invasions of the Mongols in the 13th cen tury). In a land where learning is not a conspicuous feature, some of these Muslims have a slight knowledge of Arabic, and, probably associated with their religion, a somewhat wider knowledge of the world than their neighbours. Apart from their turbulence, it would not appear that religious differences were associated with any great difference of cultures, and, indeed, except for the fact that the Mongols on the whole avoid towns, the two cultures have very many points in common. Buddhism in Mongolia is similar to that in Tibet (q.v.) and presents no special local features. There are, however, certain local differences of interest. The lamaseries form the only permanent habitations in this land of nomads, but the lamas are not confined to their convents, and in practice large numbers of them are wanderers. The older shamanistic religion exists side by side with the higher and more orthodox faith. Among a pastoral people the Buddhist objection to the destruction of life cannot exist, and the slaughter of animals, and even their actual sacrifice, an idea entirely repugnant to Buddhist ideals, forms an important part of many Mongol ceremonies, including that of marriage. Over much of Mongolia there are ancient obos or stone altars, placed especially on conspicuous, rocky outcrops. Ceremonies take place at these obos at intervals. In the remoter districts shamanistic rites still take place, usually towards night fall. A fire is lit outside the tent and animals are sacrificed. The chief performer, man or woman, begins by reciting traditional spells and gradually works into a hysterical condition, during which he may see visions, and finally falls unconscious on the ground. In contrast to the regular Buddhist priests, however, ex cept in Uriankhai there do not seem to be any regular shamans, their place being taken by anyone who is of such a mental con dition as to be able to perform the ceremony ; this matter is, how ever, not certain.
The general features of the mode of life of the inhabitants of Mongolia contrast very strongly with that of their most intimate neighbours the Chinese. They entirely lack any real form of co hesion, and though the Mongol princes have at times been able to combine and conquer immense territories, the death of the khan has usually been the signal for the break-up of his dynasty. To-day their life can be seen probably most typically in the region south of Gobi, a region which at various times has been given over to Chinese agriculturists, in the Ming dynasty, for instance. The ef fect of the building of the Great Wall of China was to turn the tide of the nomad westwards. The Chinese are pushing many miles beyond the wall, into a country which is suited naturally to pas toral nomadism, and though the nomad cannot exist when the agriculturist has passed by, any slight change in environment which compels the agriculturalist to retire results in the land re turning once more to pasture.
The existence of an Asiatic centre of origin or homeland where ancestral types of mammalian life developed millions of years ago and spread westward to Europe and eastward to America had long been a matter of purely palaeontological theory. In 19oo Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, summarized his conviction of the truth of the theory and plotted on a map the regions in which he believed the great orders of mammals had originated. (Science, April 13, 1900, p. 567.) His belief, however, was entirely based upon inductive reasoning, for the fossil history of Asia was unknown.
Central Asian Expeditions.—This prophecy was responsible for the original conception of the central Asiatic expeditions. After ten years of zoological work in various parts of Asia, plans took shape to test the theory by scientific exploration of the little known central Asian plateau. The main problem was to dis cover the geologic and palaeontologic history of central Asia ; to find whether or not it had been the nursery of many of the domi nant groups of animals, including the human race; and to re construct its past climate, vegetation and general physical condi tions, particularly in relation to the evolution of man. It was necessary that a group of specialists be taken into central Asia together in order that the knowledge of each man might supple ment that of his colleagues. Probably no archaeologist could have dated the culture and unravelled the story of the dune-dwellers, a prehistoric race which was discovered, without the assistance of other scientists. This was indeed the first expedition of such magnitude to employ these methods. The fossil history of central Asia was completely unknown. The British had made some discoveries of importance in India. In China fossil teeth and bones had long been sold for medicine and a few had been studied by English and German scientists. Some interesting and important finds had been made in Java, Persia and Asiatic Russia. But these all came from the edge of the interior continent. Literally, the only fossils known from the central Asian plateau were a few "rhinoceros" teeth discovered by the Russian explorer, Obruchev, in 1894-96. Mongolia is isolated in the heart of a continent; and there is not a single mile of railway in the country, which is nearly half as large as western Europe. The climate is extremely severe; the temperature drops to —40° to —5o° and the plateau is swept by bitter winds from the Arctic. Effective palaeontolog ical work can be conducted only from the beginning of April to October. In the Gobi desert, which occupies a large part of Mongolia, food and water are scarce and the region is so inhos pitable that there are but few inhabitants.
The physical difficulties could only be overcome by some means of rapid transportation and that transportation the motor car suc cessfully supplied. The automobiles could run into the desert, as soon as the heavy snows had disappeared, at the rate of 'co m. a day, penetrate to the farthest reaches of Mongolia and return when cold made work impossible. Camels, which other explorers had used, average io m. daily. Thus, approximately ten years' work could be finished in one season. A supporting caravan of camels, with food and petrol (gasolene), must go out months before the motor parties. The expedition of 1925 had 125 camels carrying 4,00o gal. of petrol, ioo of oil, 3 tons of flour, i tons of rice and other food in proportion. The caravan was to leave petrol and food at two depot: and wait at a well 800 m. out in the desert.