From a study of the nature and composition of minerals and rocks, and an investigation of the different agencies by which they are formed and modified, the geologist proceeds to inquire how these materials have been put together so as to build up the visible part of the earth's crust. He soon ascertains that they have not been thrown together wholly at random, but that they show a recognizable order of arrangement. Some of them, especially those of most recent growth, remain in their original condition and position, but, in proportion to their antiquity, they generally present increasing alteration, until it may no longer be possible to tell what was their pristine state. As by far the largest accessible portion of the terrestrial crust consists of stratified rocks, and as these furnish clear evidence of most of the modifications to which they have been subjected in the long course of geological history, it is convenient to take them into consideration first. They possess a number of structures which belong to the original conditions in which they were accumulated. They present in addition other structures which have been superinduced upon them, and which they share with the unstratified or igneous rocks. 1. ORIGINAL STRUCTURES (a) _Stratified Rocks._--This extensive and important series is above all distinguished by possessing a prevailing stratified arrangement. Their materials have been laid down in laminae, layers and strata, or beds, pointing generally to the intermittent deposition of the sediments of which they consist. As this stratification was, as a rule, originally nearly or quite horizontal, it serves as a base from which to measure any subsequent disturbance which the rocks have undergone. The occurrence of false-bedding, i.e. bands of inclined layers between the normal planes of stratification, does not form any real exception; but indicates the action of shifting currents whereby the sediment was transported and thrown down. Other important records of the original conditions of deposit are supplied by ripple-marks, sun-cracks, rain-prints and concretions.