The Timepiece of Geology. — Claypole. 43 
This has occurred more than once in cases where the disturb¬ 
ance escaped notice. As instances we may quote the well 
known case of the Scottish highlands and that of the Taconic 
region in the northeastern United States. Endless discussion 
has followed both these errors. On the other hand the work 
of James Hall in the undisturbed region of western New York 
has resulted in establishing, on a base that can never be 
shaken, the whole fabric of North American Paleozoic paleon¬ 
tology. To this, as to an infallible standard, are referred the 
observations of later geologists in all parts of this continent 
and the agreement of the fossils is accepted without hesita¬ 
tion as proof of the contemporaneous or very nearly contem¬ 
poraneous dates of the strata. 
In a disturbed and faulted region, moreover, it would be an 
impossible task to decipher the history save by the aid of 
paleontology. The few exposures that can be obtained could 
seldom show the structure with sufficient detail to give any 
confidence and but for the evidence of the fossils this struc¬ 
ture could in many regions never be known. For this very 
reason New England, although the first settled part of the 
country, was left blank upon the early geological maps. Only 
of late years, when geologists have become more numerous and 
investigations more minute, has the blank been partially fillec} 
up. And even now a cloud of uncertainty hangs over not a 
few parts of this “mother land” in consequence of the highly 
disturbed condition of its strata and the frequent absence of 
fossil remains. Yet again, so firm is our confidence in this 
secondary guide that in the cases, and they are not infrequent, 
where the fossils from a lower stratum are found on a higher 
level, we do not hesitate to prophesy that further research 
will show that the strata have been overthrown or overthrust, 
and such predictions have so far invariably proved correct. 
One slight exception may be noted, when by migration a fauna 
has for a time forsaken an area and a little later returned to 
the same. But this is a totally unimportant and local change. 
So sure is the paleontological record in spite of its imperfec¬ 
tions that it will bear the stress of prophecy in cases such as 
the above,—the severest test that can be applied to any scien¬ 
tific doctrine. 
