<object:standard:lacc.rl.1112.4:>Read this line from Frankenstein: And thus for a time I was occupied by exploded systems, mingling, like an unadept, a thousand...

<object:standard:lacc.rl.1112.4:>Read this line from Frankenstein:

And thus for a time I was occupied by exploded systems, mingling, like an unadept, a thousand contradictory theories and floundering desperately in a very slough of multifarious knowledge, guided by an ardent imagination and childish reasoning. . .

A slough is a place of deep mud.

Why does the author use the word slough in this line?