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Ch.XXX.] 



TEMPLE OF JUPITER SERAPIS. 



1/0 



sea, except occasionallj when the south wind blew violentlj. 

 On his return^ 16 years after, to superintend 



some 



vations ordered by the King of Naples, he fonnd the 

 pavement covered by sea-water twice every day at high tide, 

 so that he was obliged to place there a line of stones to stand 



upon 



make 



means 



that the ground had been and was sinking, at the average 

 rate of about 7 millimetres a year, or about 1 inch in 4 years ; 

 so that, in 1838, fish were caught every day on that part of 

 the pavement where, in 1807, there was never a drop of 



m 



Mr, Smith, of Jordan Hill, examined the temple in 1847, 

 and came to the conclusion from a comparison of various data 

 that the rate of subsidence at that period was one inch 

 annually^t Signor Scacchi, in 1852, after an examination 

 undertaken by him at my request, inferred that the down- 

 ward movement had ceased for several years, or had at least 

 become almost inappreciable. I made several observations 

 in 1857 and 1858, and came to the conclusion that there was 

 a depth of about 2 feet of Tvater on the pavement near the 

 bronze ring on calm days at high tide when the Bay of Baise 

 was not raised above its ordinary level by the wind. Although 

 it would require a long series of measurements to obtain the 

 exact average height of the tide in the bay, I cannot doubt 

 that the relative level of the pavement and the sea has 

 altered very sensibly since Mccolini first frequented the 

 place. 



From what w^as said before (p. 167), we saw that the 

 marine shells in the strata forming the plain called La 

 Starza, considered separately, establish the fact of an up- 

 heaval of the ground to the height of 23 feet and upwards. 

 The temple proves much more, because it could not have 

 been built originally under water, and must therefore first 

 have sunk down 20 feet at least below the waves, to be 

 afterwards restored to its original position. Yet if such was 

 the order of events, we ought to meet with other independent 



* Tavola Metrica Chronologica, &c. 

 Napoli, 1838. 



t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. iii. 



p. 237. 



