Sentence:  This, as Maury remarks, "suggested the idea that there was no running water nor abrading forces at play upon the bed of the deep sea, and consequently, if ever an electric cord were lodged upon the telegraphic plateau, there it would lie in cold abstraction; without anything to <WSD>fret</WSD>, chafe or wear, save alone the tooth of time." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To be worn away; to chafe; to fray.