254 DISINTEGKATION Chap. V. 



was impossible to look at witli the naked eye 

 or througli a strong lens, and doubt for a 

 moment that they had almost all undergone 

 much attrition. I speak thus after having 

 examined small water-worn pebbles, formed 

 from Eoman bricks, which M. Henri de 

 Saussure had the kindness to send me, and 

 which he had extracted from sand and gravel 

 beds, deposited on the shores of the Lake of 

 Geneva, at a former joeriod when the water 

 stood at about two metres above its present 

 level. The smallest of these water- worn 

 pebbles of brick from Geneva resembled 

 closely many of those extracted from the 

 gizzards of w^orms, but the larger ones were 

 somewhat smoother. 



Four castings found on the recently un- 

 covered, tesselated floor of the great room in 

 the Eoman villa at Brading, contained many 

 particles of tile or brick, of mortar, and of 

 hard white cement ; and the majority of these 

 appeared plainly worn. The particles of 

 mortar, however, seemed to have suffered 

 more corrosion than attrition, for grains of 

 silex often projected from their surfaces. 

 Castings from within the nave of Beaulieu 



