万物简史 第101期:势不两立的科学(2)

 That the bone didn't attract greater interest is more than a little puzzling, for its appearance came at a time when America was in a froth of excitement about the remains¹ of large, ancient animals. The cause of this froth was a strange assertion by the great French naturalist² the Comte de Buffon—he of the heated spheres from the previous chapter—that living things in the New World were inferior in nearly every way to those of the Old World.

骨头没有引起很大的兴趣，这有点儿令人费解，因为发现这根骨头恰好是在美国人对古代大动物的遗骸着迷的时候。伟大的法国博物学家布丰伯爵——就是前一章里提到的做加热球体试验的人——对这种着迷的原因作出了奇怪的断言：新大陆的生物几乎在哪一方面都要比旧大陆的生物低一等。

America, Buffon wrote in his vast and much-esteemed Histoire Naturelle, was a land where the water was stagnant³, the soil unproductive, and the animals without size or vigor⁴, their constitutions weakened by the "noxious⁵ vapors⁶" that rose from its rotting swamps and sunless forests. In such an environment even the native Indians lacked virility⁷. "They have no beard or body hair," Buffon sagely⁸ confided⁹, "and no ardor¹⁰ for the female." Their reproductive organs were "small and feeble."

布丰在那部评价很高的巨著《自然史》里写道，在美洲这块土地上，水源发臭，土地不长五谷，动物个儿很小，缺乏活力，肌体被从腐烂的沼泽和晒不着太阳的森林里逸出的“毒气”弄得十分虚弱。在这样的环境里，连土著印第安人也缺乏生殖力。“他们不长胡子，身上也没有毛，”布丰煞有介事地在私下说，“对女人没有激情。”他们的生殖器“又小又没有劲儿”。

Buffon's observations found surprisingly eager support among other writers, especially those whose conclusions were not complicated by actual familiarity with the country. A Dutchman named Comeille de Pauw announced in a popular work called Recherches Philosophiques sur les Americains that native American males were not only reproductively unimposing, but "so lacking in virility that they had milk in their breasts." Such views enjoyed an improbable durability¹¹ and could be found repeated or echoed in European texts till near the end of the nineteenth century.

布丰的观察结果在别的作家中间——尤其在那些其实对这个国家不大熟悉，因而自己的结论也是缺乏根据的人中间——获得了出人意料的热烈支持。有个名叫科梅耶·波夫的荷兰人在一本名叫《关于美洲人的哲学研究》的通俗作品中宣称，美洲的土著男人不但在繁殖方面给人印象不深，而且“如此缺乏生殖能力，他们的乳房都流着奶汁”。这种观点奇怪地流行了很长时间，在欧洲的文献中反复出现或得到反响，直到19世纪快要结束的时候。

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

3 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

4 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

5 noxious   

adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• Heavy industry pollutes our rivers with noxious chemicals.重工业产生的有毒化学品会污染我们的河流。
• Many household products give off noxious fumes.很多家用产品散发有害气体。

6 vapors   

n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His emotions became vague and shifted about like vapors. 他的心情则如同一团雾气，变幻无常，捉摸不定。 来自辞典例句
• They have hysterics, they weep, they have the vapors. 他们歇斯底里，他们哭泣，他们精神忧郁。 来自辞典例句

7 virility   

n.雄劲，丈夫气

参考例句：

• He wanted his sons to become strong,virile,and athletic like himself.他希望他的儿子们能长得像他一样强壮、阳刚而又健美。
• He is a tall,virile man with rugged good looks.他是个身材高大、体魄健壮、相貌粗犷英俊的男子。

8 sagely   

adv. 贤能地，贤明地

参考例句：

• Even the ones who understand may nod sagely. 即使对方知道这一点，也会一本正经地点头同意。
• Well, that's about all of the sagely advice this old grey head can come up with. 好了，以上就是我这个满头银发的老头儿给你们的充满睿智的忠告。

9 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 ardor   

n.热情，狂热

参考例句：

• His political ardor led him into many arguments.他的政治狂热使他多次卷入争论中。
• He took up his pursuit with ardor.他满腔热忱地从事工作。

11 durability   

n.经久性，耐用性

参考例句：

• Nylons have the virtue of durability.尼龙丝袜有耐穿的优点。