230 BUEIAL OF THE REMAINS CHAP. IV. 



some time carried away by man, or that earth 

 has since been washed down during heavy 

 rain, or blown down during storms, from the 

 adjoining land ; and this would be especially 

 apt to occur where the land has long been 

 cultivated. In the above cases the adjoining 

 land is somewhat higher than the three speci- 

 fied sites, as far as I can judge by maps and 

 from information given me by Dr. Johnson. 

 If, however, a great pile of broken stones, 

 mortar, plaster, timber and ashes fell over the- 

 remains of any building, their disintegration 

 in the course of time, and the sifting action 

 of worms, would ultimately conceal the whole 

 beneath fine earth. 



Conclusion. The cases given in this chapter 

 show that worms have played a considerable 

 part in the burial and concealment of several 

 Roman and other old buildings in England ; 

 but no doubt the washing down of soil from 

 the neighbouring higher lands, and the de- 

 position of dust, have together aided largely 

 in the work of concealment. Dust would be 

 apt to accumulate wherever old broken-down 

 walls projected a little above the then exist- 



