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Ch. XVIII. ] 



ANTIQUITY OF NILE MUD. 



437 



having been raised by the gradual accumulation of sediment 

 resulting from the annual inundations. The whole thickness 

 therefore d e of 9 feet 4 inches of mud in which the pedestal 

 of the statue was buried, instead of indicating 3,215 years, is 



much 



Mempl 



% Jc gave way and allowed the river to inundate the site of 

 the statue. But Sir John Lubbock, in reply to this objec- 



remarked 



Memph 



raised by the accumulation of Nile sediment since the statue 

 was erected, and although the river when it broke through 

 the embankments and washed mud from them into the enclo- 

 sure might perhaps in a few years raise the enclosed area up 

 to the level of the great plain outside I m, yet it could never 

 heighten that area above the general level. The exceptional 

 rapidity of accumulation, observes Sir J. Lubbock, would only 

 be the complement of the exceptional want of deposition 

 which had preceded.* 



Mr. A. R. Wallace, on reading my Antiquity of Man, p. 36, 

 sent me this same answer to Mr. Sharpens objection, which 

 had occurred to him independently. The explanation will 

 perhaps remove some of the difficulties which Mr. Franks and 

 other antiquaries experienced in regard to the date assigned 

 by Mr. Horner, in accordance with his scale, to several pieces 

 of sculpture and pottery found at different levels in sinking 

 through the ten feet of soil, e d, in which the lower part of 

 the pedestal was buried. It is most desirable, however, that 

 fresh enquiries should be made to extend and verify the 



ccessfully 



Hor 



Hekeky 



under the auspices of the Royal Society, liberally assisted by 

 the late Viceroy of Egypt. 



In all calculations referring to the growth of alluvial de- 

 posits, or to the effects of aqueous denudation, our chief 

 difficulty in geology arises from our inability to measure 

 correctly the accompanying movements of the land. The 





* Sir J. Lubbock. The Header, March 26, 1864. 



