74 



SKETCHES OF CREATION. 



tilted position (Fig. 19). We know that it took place be- 

 fore the deposition of the next series of strata, because 



Fig. 19. Disturbed condition of Eozoic Strata. 

 a. Eozoic strata, tilted and contorted by disturbances occurring before the deposi- 

 tion of the Paleozoic strata, b, c, d. e, e, e. Faults or dislocations of Eozoic and 

 Paleozoic strata, evidently of later date than the contortions of a. 



these strata were not tilted by the upheaval, but continue 

 to present their horizontal edges against the inclined faces 

 of the eozoic beds. Thus the precise relative period of this 

 upheaval is fixed. 



Consider the geography of the North American continent 

 at this date. An angular ridge of land (Fig. 20) is all that 



Fig. 20. The Germ of the North American Continent. 



a, a. The two branches of the continent, b, b. Islands. (The modern continent is 



indicated by dotted lines, the rivers by broken lines.) 



