万物简史 第573期:达尔文的非凡见解(22)

Among his other books were On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids¹ Are Fertilised by Insects (1862), Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), which sold almost 5,300 copies on its first day, The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom (1876) — a subject that came improbably close to Mendel's own work, without attaining² anything like the same insights — and his last book, The Power of Movement in Plants. Finally, but not least, he devoted³ much effort to studying the consequences of inbreeding — a matter of private interest to him. Having married his own cousin, Darwin glumly⁴ suspected that certain physical and mental frailties⁵ among his children arose from a lack of diversity in his family tree.

他的其他著作还有《论英国和外国的兰花借助于昆虫传粉的种种技巧》（1862年）、《人和动物的情感表达》（1872年）——该书第一天就卖了差不多5300本——《植物界异花受精和自花受精的效果》（1876）——该书的主题与孟德尔的著作十分接近，见解却远不如孟德尔的那么深刻，以及《植物的运动能力》。最后，他还花费许多精力对近亲繁殖的结果进行了研究——这一领域的研究纯粹出于他的个人兴趣。由于达尔文的妻子是他表妹，他怀疑出现在他孩子身上的某些生理和精神方面的问题，一定是由于近亲结婚所致。

Darwin was often honored in his lifetime, but never for On the Origin of Species or Descent of Man. When the Royal Society bestowed⁶ on him the prestigious⁷ Copley Medal it was for his geology, zoology⁸, and botany, not evolutionary⁹ theories, and the Linnaean Society was similarly pleased to honor Darwin without embracing his radical¹⁰ notions.

达尔文一生赢得了许多殊荣，但都不是因为《物种起源》和《人的由来》那两本书。皇家学会授予他科普利奖章，是因为他在地质学、动物学和植物学方面所作的贡献，不是因为他的进化论。林奈学会在授予他的荣誉称号中，也将他的理论中具有激进的观点排除在外。

1 orchids   

n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She breeds orchids in her greenhouse. 她在温室里培育兰花。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

3 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

4 glumly   

adv.忧郁地，闷闷不乐地；阴郁地

参考例句：

• He stared at it glumly, and soon became lost in thought. 他惘然沉入了瞑想。 来自子夜部分
• The President sat glumly rubbing his upper molar, saying nothing. 总统愁眉苦脸地坐在那里，磨着他的上牙，一句话也没有说。 来自辞典例句

5 frailties   

n.脆弱( frailty的名词复数 )；虚弱；（性格或行为上的）弱点；缺点

参考例句：

• The fact indicates the economic frailties of this type of farming. 这一事实表明，这种类型的农业在经济上有其脆弱性。 来自辞典例句
• He failed therein to take account of the frailties of human nature--the difficulties of matrimonial life. 在此，他没有考虑到人性的种种弱点--夫妻生活的种种难处。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

6 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

7 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

8 zoology   

n.动物学，生态

参考例句：

• I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
• The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。

9 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

10 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。