100 DISPOSITIONS, FRACTURES AND 



placed; once to assume the inclined position them- 

 selves, and a second time to communicate it to those 

 of which they formed the basis and support. Other 

 proofs of two displacements of the inferior strata, 

 will be found in the phenomena of fractures and shifts 

 hereafter described. 



As it has been shown that there have been suc- 

 cessive displacements and depositions, it is next easy 

 to see that three or more reversals of position might 

 occur in a long series, in which all the parts were 

 open to investigation. This indeed may be inferred 

 without difficulty, from the comparison of the posi- 

 tions of different sets of strata ; but I cannot quote 

 any instance in which more than two have actually 

 been observed in one spot. But it is unnecessary to 

 dwell on this subject. Sufficient has been said to 

 show, that in the proofs which we have of successive 

 changes in the positions of strata, provision is made 

 for explaining all the confusion which is manifest in 

 the disposition of the rocks at the surface. 



Of Fractures of the Strata. 



If strata had been deposited where they are now 

 found, there could be no reason for expecting any 

 breaches of their continuity. Such accidents are 

 nevertheless common, and they serve, not only to 

 confirm the opinion that the positions of strata have 

 been changed since their formation, but to give us 

 some insight into the nature and direction of the 

 moving forces. 



The simplest case of this nature consists in a mere 

 fracture of the strata, in which the separated parts 

 remain in the same places. This occurs on every 

 possible scale of magnitude; sometimes aifecting very 



