CHAPTER VI. MEDICAL SUPERSTITIONS.

 Death and the Grave.—Sorcerer’s Ointment¹.—Teeth-worms.-Disease Transference.—Doctrine² of Signatures.

 

Superstitions⁴ connected with Death and the Grave.

 

There is a very common saying amongst ignorant persons, when they suddenly shudder⁵ without reason, that some one is walking over their grave. In New England it is believed that cramp⁶ in the feet can be cured by walking over a grave. Earth taken at midnight from a newly made grave is believed in some parts of England to have a curative effect. Crawling round newly made graves is thought useful in sickness in Devonshire. Churchyard grass has been used (as what has not?) as an antidote⁸ to hydrophobia. Even in Afghanistan graves have a reputation for curing diseases.977

 

“In the middle ages the necromancers profaned⁹ tombs and compounded philtres and ointments¹⁰ with the grease and blood of corpses¹²; they mixed aconite, belladonna, and poisonous fungi¹³ therewith; then they boiled and skimmed these frightful¹⁴ mixtures over fires composed of human remains¹⁵ and crucifixes stolen from churches; they added the dust of dried toads¹⁶ and the ashes of consecrated¹⁸ hosts; then they rubbed their foreheads, hands, and stomachs with the infernal ointment, drew the satanic pentacle, and evoked¹⁹ the dead beneath gibbets or in desecrated²⁰ cemeteries²¹.”978

 

Baptista Porta gives the recipe for the sorceress’ ointment in his Natural Magic. By means of this charm the witches were carried to their Sabbath. It was composed of children’s fat, of aconite boiled with poplar leaves, and some other drugs; soot²² must be mixed with these, and the bodies of the sorceresses rubbed all over with the compound as they went to the Sabbath naked. Another recipe from the works of the same author runs thus:—

 

414

 

Recipe—Suim, acorum vulgare, pentaphyllon, vespertillionis sanguinem, solanum somniferum et oleum, the whole to be well boiled and stirred to the consistence of an ointment.979

 

Bits of the rope and chips from the gallows²³ after the hanging of a criminal have long had a reputation in England as cures for headache and ague. The touch of a dead man’s hand at the place of execution was formerly²⁴ considered very efficacious for some complaints.

 

Dyer says that between Suffolk and Norfolk a favourite remedy for whooping-cough is to put the head of the suffering child into a hole made in a meadow for a few minutes. It must be done in the evening, with only the father and mother to witness it.980

 

A knife that has killed a man is an amulet²⁵ worn against disease in China. A piece of skin taken with a black-handled knife from a male corpse¹¹ which has been buried nine days is an Irish love charm.981

 

People in North Hampshire sometimes wear a tooth taken from a corpse, kept in a little bag, and hung round the neck, as a remedy for toothache. Bones from churchyards have from old times been used as charms against disease. Coffin²⁶ water is considered good for warts²⁸, and the water with which a corpse has been washed has been recently given to a man in Glasgow as a remedy for fits.982

 

Teeth Worms.

 

A very curious remedy for toothache is founded on the idea that the disease is caused by a worm, and that henbane seed roasted will extract the worm. The Englishman’s Doctor; or the School of Salerne, an English translation of a book published in 1607, has a few lines on this superstition³ which run thus:—

 

“If in your teeth you hap²⁹ to be tormented³⁰,

By meane some little wormes therein do breed,

Which pain (if heed³¹ be tane) may be prevented,

Be keeping cleane your teeth, when as you feede;

Burne Francomsence (a gum not evil sented),

Put Henbane unto this, and Onyon seed,

And with a tunnel to the tooth that’s hollow,

Convey the smoke thereof, and ease shall follow.”983

Every druggist even at the present day sells henbane seed for the same purpose; it is used by sprinkling it on hot cinders³². The heat causes the seed to sprout³⁴, and an appearance similar to a maggot is produced, which is ignorantly supposed by the purchaser of the drug to have dropped from the tooth to which the smoke is applied³⁵. Very415 strangely this belief that toothache is caused by a worm is found all over the world.984

 

That dental caries is actually caused by an organism (the Leptothrix buccalis), which is found in teeth slime, and the threads of which penetrate³⁶ the tissue of the teeth after the enamel³⁷ has been eaten away by acids generated by the fermentation of the food, is not of course known to peasants and ignorant persons; they seem, however, to have in this instance anticipated a discovery in bacteriology.

 

Disease Transference.

 

When primitive³⁸ folk found that diseases could be communicated from one person to another, that contagious³⁹ and infectious complaints spread through a district with terrible rapidity and fatal effects, they began to argue that it must be possible to transfer diseases to other creatures than man. And so we find stomach-ache transferred from the patient to a puppy or a duck.985 Hooping-cough is transmitted to dogs by hairs of the patient given between slices of bread-and-butter. Ague and scarlet-fever are transmitted to the ass⁷ on which the sufferer sits; toothache is passed on to a frog by spitting in its mouth. Even trees are considered able to relieve patients of ague. Mr. Tylor says: “In Thuringia it is considered that a string of rowan berries, a rag, or any small article touched by a sick person, and then hung on a bush beside some forest path, imparts the malady⁴⁰ to any person who may touch this article in passing, and frees the sick man from the disease. This gives great probability to Captain Burton’s suggestion, that the rags, locks of hair, and what not hung on trees near sacred places, by the superstitious⁴¹, from Mexico to India, and Ethiopia to Ireland, are deposited there as actual receptacles for transference of disease.”986

 

Innumerable transference superstitions are met with concerning warts, and these have doubtless arisen from the very remarkable⁴² manner in which they sometimes disappear. In some cases what are taken to be warts by those not skilled in skin diseases are merely a papular eruption⁴³ of a fugitive⁴⁴ kind, which suddenly appears on the back of the hands and as suddenly vanishes. As real warts, however, often arise from constitutional causes, they will naturally disappear with improved general health; and this fact has been the fruitful parent of a host of superstitions.

 

Mr. Black gives several of these. He says:416 “Lancashire wise men tell us for warts to rub them with a cinder³³, and this tied up in paper, and dropped where four roads meet (i.e., where the roads cross), will transfer the warts to whoever opens the parcel. Another mode of transferring warts is to touch each wart²⁷ with a pebble⁴⁵, and place the pebbles⁴⁶ in a bag, which should be lost on the way to church; whoever finds the bag gets the warts.”987

 

A common Warwickshire custom is to rub the warts with a black snail⁴⁷, stick the snail on a thorn bush, and then, say the folk, as the snail dies so will the wart disappear.

 

Antidotes⁴⁸.

 

Another old medical superstition is that every natural poison carries within itself its own antidote. Galen, Pliny, and Dioscorides say that the poison of Spanish fly exists in the body, and the head and wings contain the antidote. “A hair of the dog that bit you,” is the ancient way of stating a belief that the hairs of a rabid dog are the true specific for hydrophobia. The fat of the viper⁴⁹ was long regarded as the remedy for its bite. In black-letter books on Demonology we learn that “three scruples⁵⁰ of the ashes of the witch, when she has been well and carefully burnt at a stake, is a sure catholicon against all the evil effects of witchcraft⁵¹.”988

 

The Doctrine of Signatures.

 

By nothing have the annals of medicine been more disgraced than by the absurd and preposterous⁵² “Doctrine of Signatures.” Dr. Paris, in his Pharmacologia, describes it as the belief that “every natural substance which possesses any medicinal virtues⁵³, indicates, by an obvious and well-marked external character, the disease for which it is a remedy or the object for which it should be employed.” Thus the plant which is common in our woods, called “Lungwort” (Pulmonaria officinalis), was anciently considered good for chest complaints, because its leaves bear a fancied resemblance to the surface of the lungs. The root of the “mandrake,” from its supposed resemblance to the human form, was a very ancient medicine for barrenness, and was so esteemed⁵⁵ by Rachel (Genesis xxx. 14).

 

Pliny, Dioscorides, and other writers attribute peculiar⁵⁶ virtues to the mineral Lapis ?tites, or eagle-stone, because the nodule within the stone rattles⁵⁷ when it is shaken. “?tites lapis agitatus sonitum edit, velut ex altero lapide pr?gnans.” The yellow drug turmeric was held to be a cure for jaundice because it is yellow. Poppies have their capsules shaped somewhat like a skull⁵⁸, therefore they were considered appropriate to relieve diseases of the head. Euphrasia, our eye-bright, was a famous application for eye diseases, because its flowers are somewhat417 like the pupil of the eye. Nettle-tea by the same rule is a country remedy for nettle-rash (urticaria). The petals⁵⁹ of the red rose bear the “signature” of the blood, the roots of rhubarb and the flowers of saffron those of the bile.

 

A person who believes himself bewitched by execration⁶⁰ and the interment of a toad¹⁷, should carry about him a living toad.

 

Southey says,989 “The signatures [were] the books out of which the ancients first learned the virtues of herbs—Nature—having stamped on divers⁶¹ of them legible characters to discover their uses.” Every healing plant, it was thought, bears in some part of its structure the type or signature of its peculiar virtue⁵⁴. Oswald Crollius is supposed to have been “the great discoverer of signatures.” Some of these strange fancies are as fantastic as those of Swedenborg. Walnuts⁶² were considered to be the perfect signature of the head, the shell as the skull and the convolutions of the kernel⁶³ as those of the two hemispheres of the brain, the outer skin would represent the scalp. So the signature doctors used the husks for scalp wounds, the inner peel for disorders⁶⁴ of the dura mater, and the kernel was “very profitable for the brain and resists poisons.” The peony when in bud being something like a man’s head was “very available against the falling sickness.” Poppy-heads for the same reason were used “with success” in general diseases of the head. Lilies-of-valley were known by signature to cure apoplexy; as Coles says, “for as that disease is caused by the dropping of humours into the principal ventricles of the brain, so the flowers of this lily hanging on the plants as if they were drops, are of wonderful use herein.”

 

Capillary⁶⁵ herbs naturally announced themselves as good for diseases of the hair. The stone crop “hath the signature of the gums,” and so was used for scurvy⁶⁶. The scales of pine-cones were used for the toothache, because they resemble the front teeth. Prickly plants like thistles and holly⁶⁷ were used for pleurisy and stitch in the side. Saxifrage was good for the stone; kidney beans ought to have been useful for kidney diseases, but seem to have been overlooked except as articles of diet.

1 ointment   

n.药膏，油膏，软膏

参考例句：

• Your foot will feel better after the application of this ointment.敷用这药膏后，你的脚会感到舒服些。
• This herbal ointment will help to close up your wound quickly.这种中草药膏会帮助你的伤口很快愈合。

2 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

3 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

4 superstitions   

迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
• Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。

5 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

6 cramp   

n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚

参考例句：

• Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔，手指也写麻了。
• The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来，让别人帮着上了岸。

7 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

8 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

9 profaned   

v.不敬( profane的过去式和过去分词 )；亵渎，玷污

参考例句：

• They have profaned the long upheld traditions of the church. 他们亵渎了教会长期沿袭的传统。 来自辞典例句
• Their behaviour profaned the holy place. 他们的行为玷污了这处圣地。 来自辞典例句

10 ointments   

n.软膏( ointment的名词复数 )；扫兴的人；煞风景的事物；药膏

参考例句：

• The firm has been dispensing ointments. 本公司配制药膏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Antibiotic ointments are useful for concurrent bacterial infections. 抗菌素软膏对伴发的细菌感染是有用的。 来自辞典例句

11 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

12 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

13 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

14 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

15 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。

16 toads   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

17 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

18 consecrated   

adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献

参考例句：

• The church was consecrated in 1853. 这座教堂于1853年祝圣。
• They consecrated a temple to their god. 他们把庙奉献给神。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

20 desecrated   

毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army desecrated this holy place when they camped here. 侵略军在这块圣地上扎营就是对这块圣地的亵渎。
• She shouldn't have desecrated the picture of a religious leader. 她不该亵渎宗教领袖的画像。

21 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

22 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

23 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

24 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

25 amulet   

n.护身符

参考例句：

• We're down here investigating a stolen amulet.我们来到这里调查一个失窃的护身符。
• This amulet is exclusively made by Father Sum Lee.这个护身符是沙姆.李长老特制的。

26 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

27 wart   

n.疣，肉赘；瑕疵

参考例句：

• What does the medicaments with remedial acuteness wet best wart have?治疗尖锐湿疣最好的药物有什么？
• Flat wart is generally superficial,or sometimes a slight itching.扁平疣一般是不痛不痒的，或偶有轻微痒感。

28 warts   

n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点

参考例句：

• You agreed to marry me, warts and all! 是你同意和我结婚的，我又没掩饰缺陷。 来自辞典例句
• Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! 用那样糊涂蛋的方法还谈什么仙水治疣子！ 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

29 hap   

n.运气；v.偶然发生

参考例句：

• Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
• May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。

30 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。

31 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

32 cinders   

n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道

参考例句：

• This material is variously termed ash, clinker, cinders or slag. 这种材料有不同的名称，如灰、炉渣、煤渣或矿渣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rake out the cinders before you start a new fire. 在重新点火前先把煤渣耙出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

33 cinder   

n.余烬，矿渣

参考例句：

• The new technology for the preparation of superfine ferric oxide from pyrite cinder is studied.研究了用硫铁矿烧渣为原料，制取超细氧化铁红的新工艺。
• The cinder contains useful iron,down from producing sulphuric acid by contact process.接触法制硫酸的矿渣中含有铁矿。

34 sprout   

n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条

参考例句：

• When do deer first sprout horns?鹿在多大的时候开始长出角？
• It takes about a week for the seeds to sprout.这些种子大约要一周后才会发芽。

35 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

36 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

37 enamel   

n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质

参考例句：

• I chipped the enamel on my front tooth when I fell over.我跌倒时门牙的珐琅质碰碎了。
• He collected coloured enamel bowls from Yugoslavia.他藏有来自南斯拉夫的彩色搪瓷碗。

38 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

39 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

40 malady   

n.病，疾病(通常做比喻)

参考例句：

• There is no specific remedy for the malady.没有医治这种病的特效药。
• They are managing to control the malady into a small range.他们设法将疾病控制在小范围之内。

41 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

42 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

43 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

44 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

45 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

46 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

47 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

48 antidotes   

解药( antidote的名词复数 )； 解毒剂； 对抗手段； 除害物

参考例句：

• Treatment involves giving antidotes that Bind the lead in the tissues. 治疗办法有用解毒剂，它会与组织中的铅结合而把它驱逐出去。
• With Spleen Qi, heat antidotes, such as cough Runfei effectiveness. 具有补脾益气、清热解毒、润肺止咳等功效。

49 viper   

n.毒蛇；危险的人

参考例句：

• Envy lucks at the bottom of the human heart a viper in its hole.嫉妒潜伏在人心底，如同毒蛇潜伏在穴中。
• Be careful of that viper;he is dangerous.小心那个阴险的人，他很危险。

50 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调

51 witchcraft   

n.魔法，巫术

参考例句：

• The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
• All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。

52 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

53 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

54 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

55 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

56 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

57 rattles   

（使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧

参考例句：

• It rattles the windowpane and sends the dog scratching to get under the bed. 它把窗玻璃震得格格作响，把狗吓得往床底下钻。
• How thin it is, and how dainty and frail; and how it rattles. 你看它够多么薄，多么精致，多么不结实；还老那么哗楞哗楞地响。

58 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

59 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

60 execration   

n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶

参考例句：

• The sense of wrongs, the injustices, the oppression, extortion, and pillage of twenty years suddenly and found voice in a raucous howl of execration. 二十年来所深受的损害、压迫、勒索、掠夺和不公平的对待，一下子达到了最高峰，在一阵粗声粗气的谩骂叫嚣里发泄出来。 来自辞典例句

61 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

62 walnuts   

胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木

参考例句：

• Are there walnuts in this sauce? 这沙司里面有核桃吗？
• We ate eggs and bacon, pickled walnuts and cheese. 我们吃鸡蛋，火腿，腌胡桃仁和干酪。

63 kernel   

n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心

参考例句：

• The kernel of his problem is lack of money.他的问题的核心是缺钱。
• The nutshell includes the kernel.果壳裹住果仁。

64 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

65 capillary   

n.毛细血管；adj.毛细管道；毛状的

参考例句：

• Rapid capillary proliferation is a prominent feature of all early wound healing.迅速的毛细血管增生是所有早期伤口愈合的一个突出表现。
• When pulmonary capillary pressure is markedly elevated,pulmonary edema ensues.当肺毛细血管压力明显升高时，就出现肺水肿。

66 scurvy   

adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病

参考例句：

• Vitamin C deficiency can ultimately lead to scurvy.缺乏维生素C最终能道致坏血病。
• That was a scurvy trick to play on an old lady.用那样的花招欺负一个老太太可真卑鄙。

67 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。