218 BURIAL OF THE REMAINS Chap. IV 



As the foundations of the walls generally 

 lie at a considerable depth, they will either 

 have not subsided at all through the under- 

 mining action of worms, or they will have 

 subsided much less than the floor. This 

 latter result would follow from worms not 

 often working deep down beneath the founda- 

 tions ; but more especially from the walls not 

 yielding when penetrated by worms, whereas 

 the successively formed burrows in a mass 

 of earth, equal to one of the walls in depth 

 and thickness, would have collapsed many 

 times since the desertion of the ruins, 

 and would consequently have shrunk or 

 subsided. As the walls cannot have sunk 

 much or at all, the immediately adjoining 

 pavement from adhering to them will have 

 been prevented from subsiding ; and thus 

 the present curvature of the pavement is 

 intelligible. 



The circumstance which has surprised me 

 most with respect to Silchester is that during 

 the many centuries which have elapsed since 

 the old buildings were deserted, the vegetable 

 mould has not accumulated over them to a 

 greater thickness than that here observed. In 



