I n the Preface to Vol. VII of this work I had occasion to express my sincere gratitude to those scholars who were my collaborators in Vol. VI, Part III and in Vol. VII, more especially to those who had identified the botanical material. Regarding the Flowering Plants, Professor C. H. OSTENFELD had already some ten years ago identified most of the specimens. He was assisted in the most able way by Dr. OvE PAULSEN, to whom I express my heartiest thanks.
When I, several years ago, was occupied in collecting material for a History of Exploration in the Kara-korum Mountains, my attention was so often drawn to the characteristic expression » Ts` ung ling Mountains», that I decided to write a special monograph on the latter. This monograph occupies Part I of the present Vol. VIII. The result would never have been so complete and satisfying as it is if I had not been fortunate enough to secure the extremely valuable and thorough assistance of Dr. ALBERT HERRMANN of Charlottenburg, to whom I am indebted for many of the most important contributions to the monograph on the Ts` ung-ling Mountains. It was our original intention to illustrate the monograph with most of the Chinese maps published in this volume. In the course of our work, however, it became more and more clear to us that the Chinese maps necessarily demanded a special explanatory historical text. Dr. HERRMANN kindly accepted my proposal to undertake this difficult task, and the result of his assiduous work is to be found in Part II of the present volume : »Die Westländer in der Chinesischen Kartographie». In connection with this work are two other articles by Dr. HERRMANN, viz. Part III: »Zwei osttürkische Manuskriltkarten» and Part IV: » Chinesische Umschreibungen von älteren geograj5hischen Namen».
At the same time as I express my sincerest thanks to Dr. HERRMANN for the excellent way in which he has contributed to the value of »Southern Tibet», I join him in his gratitude (cp. p. 99, note I and p. i o I , note 3) to the several institutions and scholars who have facilitated his work in one way or another, the PRUSSIAN STATE LIBRARY, DEUTSCHE MORGENLÄNDISCHE GESELLSCHAFT and GESELLSCHAFT FUR ERDKUNDE at Berlin, Dr. V. K. TING of Peking who was kind enough to send me a
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