"The Devonian limestone is apparently succeeded conformably by the Cretaceous, and with the possible exception of a thin bed of conglomerate of limited extent, which occurs below Crooked Rapid on the Athabasca, the age of which is doubtful, the =vast interval of time= which separated the two formations, is, so far as observed, =unrepresented= either by deposition or erosion."[23] Of course, some geological writers labor to explain this thundering rebuke of their theory, just as the Ptolemaic astronomers had their "deterrents" and "epicycles" for every new difficulty. But surely the detailed records of such observations as these are fearful examples of the power of tradition to blind the minds of investigators to the meaning of the very plainest facts. On a previous page (Id. p. 51,) the author last quoted gives us some idea of the "remarkable persistence" of this instructive case of conformability, which extends from the Athabasca "in a broad band around the southern end of Birch Mountains, and across Lake Claire to Peace River, and up the latter stream to a point two miles above Vermillion Falls." The distance, as I judge from the map, can not be less than 150 miles in a straight direction, thus making a district of probably several thousand square miles in extent where, according to the theory of a life succession, nature must have put an injunction on the action of the elements, and they had to continue in the _status quo_ for millions of ages, or from the Devonian to the Cretaceous "age," the water neither wearing away nor building up over any part of this consecrated ground during all this time. Nor is this all, for from Part E, Report (p. 209) of this same volume, we are told of strata near Lake Manitoba, =over 500 miles away=, in almost the same wonderful relationship,--"Devonian rocks very similar in character" to those in Athabasca still overlaid directly by the Cretaceous, though in this case as it happens "unconformably." It would almost seem to be a _bona fide_ case of Werner's onion coats cropping out. And all this incredible picture of nature's inconsistent behaviour in past ages is necessitated solely by the loving allegiance with which the infallibility of the life succession theory is regarded by modern geologists. FOOTNOTES: [20] "Origin," Vol. II., p. 58: Sixth Ed. The first edition, I believe, contains the same language. [21] "Text-Book," p. 842. [22] Canadian "Annual Report," New Series, Vol. II., Part A, p. 8. [23] "Annual Report," New Series, Vol. V., Part D, p. 52. CHAPTER V TURNED UPSIDE DOWN How many of us have ever seen a mountain fall? Not very many. And yet events even more wonderful than this have frequently occurred in the past, as we are confidently assured by the leaders in geological science. Thus, in speaking of a certain region in the Alps, Dana[24] says that "one of the overthrust folds has put the beds upside down over an area of 450 square miles."