﻿PEOF. 
  C. 
  LAPWOETH 
  ON 
  THE 
  GIEVAN 
  SUCCESSION. 
  541 
  

  

  these 
  folds 
  has 
  resulted 
  in 
  the 
  confounding 
  of 
  beds 
  vastly 
  different 
  

   in 
  geological 
  age. 
  The 
  numerous 
  longitudinal 
  faults 
  which 
  cut 
  

   through 
  the 
  district 
  along 
  the 
  strike 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  have 
  brought 
  into 
  

   unnatural 
  juxtaposition 
  strata 
  widely 
  separated 
  in 
  the 
  true 
  vertical 
  

   series 
  ; 
  and, 
  even 
  where 
  the 
  sequence 
  is 
  the 
  natural 
  one, 
  the 
  

   predominating 
  inversion 
  has 
  forced 
  the 
  conscientious 
  stratigraphist 
  

   to 
  give 
  the 
  physical 
  testimony 
  an 
  erroneous 
  interpretation. 
  

  

  The 
  pala3ontological 
  evidences, 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  hitherto 
  con- 
  

   strued, 
  have 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  confusion 
  of 
  opinion 
  even 
  more 
  perplexing 
  and 
  

   disheartening. 
  By 
  far 
  the 
  larger 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  fossils 
  recorded 
  

   from 
  this 
  district 
  have 
  been 
  obtained 
  from 
  a 
  few 
  limited 
  areas, 
  and 
  

   at 
  most 
  from 
  half 
  a 
  dozen 
  different 
  horizons, 
  while 
  all 
  the 
  inter- 
  

   mediate 
  and 
  less 
  fossiliferous 
  strata 
  have 
  remained 
  practically 
  un- 
  

   touched. 
  The 
  unfortunate 
  habit 
  of 
  collectors 
  of 
  grouping 
  together 
  

   fossils 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  area 
  whence 
  they 
  were 
  procured, 
  instead 
  

   of 
  the 
  individual 
  stratum 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  belong, 
  has 
  here 
  been 
  

   carried 
  to 
  excess. 
  We 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  local 
  list 
  species 
  elsewhere 
  

   of 
  Wenlock, 
  Llandovery, 
  Caradoc, 
  and 
  even 
  of 
  Llandeilo 
  age, 
  all 
  

   tabled 
  together 
  as 
  if 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  obtained 
  from 
  one 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  

   stratigraphical 
  zone. 
  This 
  has 
  had 
  its 
  inevitable 
  result, 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  

   hiding 
  from 
  view 
  the 
  defective 
  stratigraphy, 
  but 
  in 
  casting 
  ridicule 
  

   and 
  even 
  odium 
  upon 
  palaeontological 
  testimony 
  in 
  general. 
  Even 
  

   Professor 
  Kamsay, 
  the 
  former 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey, 
  whose 
  

   life 
  has 
  been' 
  mainly 
  spent 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Palaeozoic 
  rocks, 
  

   unable 
  to 
  reconcile 
  the 
  numberless 
  discrepancies 
  between 
  the 
  apparent 
  

   sequence, 
  palaeontological 
  and 
  stratigraphical, 
  as 
  here 
  developed 
  

   and 
  that 
  worked 
  out 
  by 
  himself 
  in 
  the 
  regions 
  of 
  Siluria, 
  has 
  been 
  

   driven 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  these 
  enigmatical 
  Scottish 
  rocks 
  

   belong 
  to 
  an 
  episode 
  of 
  a 
  date 
  between 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Bala 
  and 
  the 
  

   Llandovery, 
  unrepresented 
  among 
  the 
  fossil-bearing 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  

   South 
  of 
  Britain. 
  

  

  Nor, 
  until 
  very 
  recently, 
  could 
  any 
  available 
  light 
  be 
  brought 
  to 
  

   bear 
  upon 
  the 
  difficulties 
  which 
  beset 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  strata 
  of 
  

   Carrick, 
  derived 
  from 
  testimony 
  obtained 
  among 
  the 
  Lower 
  Palaeozoic 
  

   rocks 
  that 
  Tie 
  outside 
  the 
  district 
  itself. 
  The 
  inevitable 
  inter- 
  

   mingling 
  of 
  the 
  fossils 
  of 
  distinct 
  zones 
  in 
  the 
  tables 
  of 
  such 
  classical 
  

   works 
  as 
  Murchison's 
  'Siluria,' 
  M'Coy's 
  ' 
  Palaeozoic 
  Eocks 
  and 
  Fossils,' 
  

   Barrande's 
  " 
  Systeme 
  Silurien,' 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  publications 
  of 
  the 
  Geo- 
  

   logical 
  Survey, 
  ran 
  so 
  fully 
  in 
  harmony 
  with 
  the 
  supposed 
  facts 
  

   obtainable 
  in 
  Carrick, 
  that 
  no 
  definite 
  palaeontological 
  error 
  was 
  

   discernible 
  of 
  sufficient 
  moment 
  either 
  to 
  cast 
  doubt 
  upon 
  the 
  

   supposed 
  physical 
  sequence, 
  or 
  to 
  stimulate 
  inquiry 
  into 
  the 
  less 
  

   universally 
  accepted 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  intermixture 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  beds 
  

   of 
  so 
  many 
  distinct 
  types 
  of 
  fossils. 
  

  

  But, 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  few 
  years, 
  a 
  more 
  detailed 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  

   minor 
  groups 
  of 
  strata 
  recognizable 
  in 
  the 
  Lower 
  Palaeozoic 
  rocks 
  

   of 
  Wales 
  has 
  been 
  most 
  successfully 
  inaugurated 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Hicks. 
  

   The 
  subsequent 
  investigation 
  of 
  the 
  correspondent 
  strata 
  of 
  Scania 
  

   and 
  Dalarne 
  by 
  the 
  Swedish 
  geologists 
  has 
  resulted 
  in 
  proving 
  to 
  

   demonstration 
  that, 
  even 
  in 
  sediments 
  of 
  such 
  contracted 
  vertical 
  

  

  