CHAPTER IV. 



THE PART WHICH WORMS HAVE PLAYED IN 

 THE BURIAL OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS. 



The accumulation of rubbish on the sites of great cities inde- 

 pendent of the action of worms — The burial of a Roman villa 

 at Abinger — The floors and walls penetrated by worms — 

 Subsidence of a modern pavement — The buried pavement at 

 Beaulieu Abbey — Roman villas at Chcdworth and Brading— 

 The remains of the Roman town at Silchester — The nature of 

 the debris by which the remains are covered — The penetration 

 of the tesselated floors and walls by worms — Subsidence of 

 the floors — Thickness of the mould — The old Roman city of 

 Wroxeter — Thickness of the mould — Depth of the foundations 

 of some of the Buildings — Conclusion. 



Archaeologists are probably not aware how 

 mucb they owe to worms for the preservation 

 of many ancient objects. Coins, gold orna- 

 ments, stone implements, &c., if dropped on 

 the surface of the ground, will infallibly be 

 buried by the castings of w^orms in a few 

 years, and wall thus be safely preserved, until 

 the land at some future time is turned up. 

 For instance, many years ago a grass-field 



