Now, the worst of it is that the gentlemen in question, being unfamiliar23 with what is technically24 described as scientific methods of investigation25, are very apt to lose their temper when thus cross-questioned, and to reply, after the fashion usually attributed to the female mind, with another question, whether the scientific person wishes to accuse them of downright lying. And as nothing on earth could be further from the scientific person's mind than such an imputation26, he is usually fain in the end to give up the social pursuit of postprandial natural history (the subject generally crops up about the same time as the after-dinner coffee), and to let the prehistoric27 toad go on his own triumphant28 way, unheeded.
As a matter of fact, nobody ever makes larger allowances for other people, in the estimate of their veracity29, than the scientific inquirer. Knowing himself, by painful experience, how extremely difficult a matter it is to make perfectly sure you have observed anything on earth quite correctly, and have eliminated all possible chances of error, he acquires the fixed30 habit of doubting about one-half of whatever his fellow-creatures tell him in ordinary conversation, without for a single moment venturing to suspect them of deliberate untruthfulness. Children and servants, if they find that anything they have been told is erroneous, immediately jump at the conclusion that the person who told them meant deliberately31 to deceive them; in their own simple and categorical fashion they answer plumply, 'That's a lie.' But the man of science is only too well acquainted in his own person with the exceeding difficulty of ever getting at the exact truth. He has spent hours of toil32, himself, in watching and observing the behaviour of some plant, or animal, or gas, or metal; and after repeated experiments, carefully designed to exclude all possibility of mistake, so far as he can foresee it, he at last believes he has really settled some moot34 point, and triumphantly35 publishes his final conclusions in a scientific journal. Ten to one, the very next number of that same journal contains a dozen supercilious36 letters from a dozen learned and high-salaried professors, each pointing out a dozen distinct and separate precautions which the painstaking37 observer neglected to take, and any one of which would be quite sufficient to vitiate the whole body of his observations. There might have been germs in the tube in which he boiled the water (germs are very fashionable just at present); or some of the germs might have survived and rather enjoyed the boiling; or they might have adhered to the under surface of the cork38; or the mixture might have been tampered39 with during the experimenter's temporary absence by his son, aged40 ten years (scientific observers have no right, apparently41, to have sons of ten years old, except perhaps for purposes of psychological research); and so forth9, ad infinitum. And the worst of it all is that the unhappy experimenter is bound himself to admit that every one of the objections is perfectly valid42, and that he very likely never really saw what with perfect confidence he thought and said he had seen.
This being an unbelieving age, then, when even the book of Deuteronomy is 'critically examined,' let us see how much can really be said for and against our old friend, the toad-in-a-hole; and first let us begin with the antecedent probability, or otherwise, of any animal being able to live in a more or less torpid43 condition, without air or food, for any considerable period of time together.
A certain famous historical desert snail44 was brought from Egypt to England as a conchological specimen in the year 1846. This particular mollusk45 (the only one of his race, probably, who ever attained46 to individual distinction), at the time of his arrival in London, was really alive and vigorous; but as the authorities of the British Museum, to whose tender care he was consigned47, were ignorant of this important fact in his economy, he was gummed, mouth downward, on to a piece of cardboard, and duly labelled and dated with scientific accuracy, 'Helix desertorum, March 25, 1846.' Being a snail of a retiring and contented48 disposition49, however, accustomed to long droughts and corresponding naps in his native sand-wastes, our mollusk thereupon simply curled himself up into the topmost recesses50 of his own whorls, and went placidly51 to sleep in perfect contentment for an unlimited53 period. Every conchologist takes it for granted, of course, that the shells which he receives from foreign parts have had their inhabitants properly boiled and extracted before being exported; for it is only the mere54 outer shell or skeleton of the animal that we preserve in our cabinets, leaving the actual flesh and muscles of the creature himself to wither55 unobserved upon its native shores. At the British Museum the desert snail might have snoozed away his inglorious existence unsuspected, but for a happy accident which attracted public attention to his remarkable56 case in a most extraordinary manner. On March 7, 1850, nearly four years later, it was casually57 observed that the card on which he reposed58 was slightly discoloured; and this discovery led to the suspicion that perhaps a living animal might be temporarily immured59 within that papery tomb. The Museum authorities accordingly ordered our friend a warm bath (who shall say hereafter that science is unfeeling!), upon which the grateful snail, waking up at the touch of the familiar moisture, put his head cautiously out of his shell, walked up to the top of the basin, and began to take a cursory60 survey of British institutions with his four eye-bearing tentacles61. So strange a recovery from a long torpid condition, only equalled by that of the Seven Sleepers63 of Ephesus, deserved an exceptional amount of scientific recognition. The desert snail at once awoke and found himself famous. Nay64, he actually sat for his portrait to an eminent65 zoological artist, Mr. Waterhouse; and a woodcut from the sketch66 thus procured67, with a history of his life and adventures, may be found even unto this day in Dr. Woodward's 'Manual of the Mollusca,' to witness if I lie.
I mention this curious instance first, because it is the best authenticated69 case on record (so far as my knowledge goes) of any animal existing in a state of suspended animation70 for any long period of time together. But there are other cases of encysted or immured animals which, though less striking as regards the length of time during which torpidity71 has been observed, are much more closely analogous72 to the real or mythical73 conditions of the toad-in-a-hole. That curious West African mud-fish, the Lepidosiren (familiar to all readers of evolutionary74 literature as one of the most singular existing links between fish and amphibians75), lives among the shallow pools and broads of the Gambia, which are dried up during the greater part of the tropical summer. To provide against this annual contingency77, the mud-fish retires into the soft clay at the bottom of the pools, where it forms itself a sort of nest, and there hibernates78, or rather ?stivates, for months together, in a torpid condition. The surrounding mud then hardens into a dry ball; and these balls are dug out of the soil of the rice-fields by the natives, with the fish inside them, by which means many specimens80 of lepidosiren have been sent alive to Europe, embedded81 in their natural covering. Here the strange fish is chiefly prized as a zoological curiosity for aquariums82, because of its possessing gills and lungs together, to fit it for its double existence; but the unsophisticated West Africans grub it up on their own account as a delicacy83, regardless of its claims to scientific consideration as the earliest known ancestor of all existing terrestrial animals. Now, the torpid state of the mud-fish in his hardened ball of clay closely resembles the real or supposed condition of the toad-in-a-hole; but with one important exception. The mud-fish leaves a small canal or pipe open in his cell at either end to admit the air for breathing, though he breathes (as I shall proceed to explain) in a very slight degree during his ?stivation; whereas every proper toad-in-a-hole ought by all accounts to live entirely84 without either feeding or breathing in any way. However, this is a mere detail; and indeed, if toads85-in-a-hole do really exist at all, we must in all probability ultimately admit that they breathe to some extent, though perhaps very slightly, during their long immurement86.
And this leads us on to consider what in reality hibernation87 is. Everybody knows nowadays, I suppose, that there is a very close analogy between an animal and a steam-engine. Food is the fuel that makes the animal engine go; and this food acts almost exactly as coal does in the artificial machine. But coal alone will not drive an engine; a free draught88 of open air is also required in order to produce combustion89. Just in like manner the food we eat cannot be utilised to drive our muscles and other organs unless it is supplied with oxygen from the air to burn it slowly inside our bodies. This oxygen is taken into the system, in all higher animals, by means of lungs or gills. Now, when we are working at all hard, we require a great deal of oxygen, as most of us have familiarly discovered (especially if we are somewhat stout) in the act of climbing hills or running to catch a train. But when we are doing very little work indeed, as in our sleeping hours, during which muscular movement is suspended, and only the general organic life continues, we breathe much more slowly and at longer intervals90. However, there is this important difference (generally speaking) between an animal and a steam-engine. You can let the engine run short of coals and come to a dead standstill, without impairing91 its future possibilities of similar motion; you have only to get fresh coals, after weeks or months of inaction, and light up a fresh fire, when your engine will immediately begin to work again, exactly the same as before. But if an animal organism once fairly runs down, either from want of food or any other cause—in short, if it dies—it very seldom comes to life again.
I say 'very seldom' on purpose, because there are a few cases among the extreme lower animals where a water-haunting creature can be taken out of the water and can be thoroughly92 dried and desiccated, or even kept for an apparently unlimited period wrapped up in paper or on the slide of a microscope; and yet, the moment a drop of water is placed on top of it, it begins to move and live again exactly as before. This sort of thorough-going suspended animation is the kind we ought to expect from any well-constituted and proper-minded toad-in-a-hole. Whether anything like it ever really occurs in the higher ranks of animal life, however, is a different question; but there can be no doubt that to some slight extent a body to all intents and purposes quite dead (physically speaking) by long immersion93 in water—a drowned man, for example—may really be resuscitated94 by heat and stimulants95, applied96 immediately, provided no part of the working organism has been seriously injured or decomposed97. Such people may be said to be pro1 tem. functionally98, though not structurally99, dead. The heart has practically ceased to beat, the lungs have ceased to breathe, and physical life in the body is temporarily extinct. The fire, in short, has gone out. But if only it can be lighted again before any serious change in the system takes place, all may still go on precisely100 as of old.
Many animals, however, find it convenient to assume a state of less complete suspended animation during certain special periods of the year, according to the circumstances of their peculiar101 climate and mode of life. Among the very highest animals, the most familiar example of this sort of semi-torpidity is to be found among the bears and the dormice. The common European brown bear is a carnivore by descent, who has become a vegetarian102 in practice, though whether from conscientious103 scruples104 or mere practical considerations of expediency105, does not appear. He feeds chiefly on roots, berries, fruits, vegetables, and honey, all of which he finds it comparatively difficult to procure68 during winter weather. Accordingly, as everyone knows, he eats immoderately in the summer season, till he has grown fat enough to supply bear's grease to all Christendom. Then he hunts himself out a hollow tree or rock-shelter, curls himself up quietly to sleep, and snores away the whole livelong winter. During this period of hibernation, the action of the heart is reduced to a minimum, and the bear breathes but very slowly. Still, he does breathe, and his heart does beat; and in performing those indispensable functions, all his store of accumulated fat is gradually used up, so that he wakes in spring as thin as a lath and as hungry as a hunter. The machine has been working at very low pressure all the winter: but it has been working for all that, and the continuity of its action has never once for a moment been interrupted. This is the central principle of all hibernation; it consists essentially106 of a very long and profound sleep, during which all muscular motion, except that of the heart and lungs, is completely suspended, while even these last are reduced to the very smallest amount compatible with the final restoration of full animal activity.
Thus, even among warm-blooded animals like the bears and dormice, hibernation actually occurs to a very considerable degree; but it is far more common and more complete among cold-blooded creatures, whose bodies do not need to be kept heated to the same degree, and with whom, accordingly, hibernation becomes almost a complete torpor107, the breathing and the action of the heart being still further reduced to very nearly zero. Mollusks in particular, like oysters108 and mussels, lead very monotonous109 and uneventful lives, only varied110 as a rule by the welcome change of being cut out of their shells and eaten alive; and their powers of living without food under adverse111 circumstances are really very remarkable. Freshwater snails112 and mussels, in cold weather, bury themselves in the mud of ponds or rivers; and land-snails hide themselves in the ground or under moss113 and leaves. The heart then ceases perceptibly to beat, but respiration114 continues in a very faint degree. The common garden snail closes the mouth of his shell when he wants to hibernate79, with a slimy covering; but he leaves a very small hole in it somewhere, so as to allow a little air to get in, and keep up his breathing to a slight amount. My experience has been, however, that a great many snails go to sleep in this way, and never wake up again. Either they get frozen to death, or else the respiration falls so low that it never picks itself up properly when spring returns. In warm climates, it is during the summer that mollusks and other mud-haunting creatures go to sleep; and when they get well plastered round with clay, they almost approach in tenacity115 of life the mildest recorded specimens of the toad-in-a-hole.
For example, take the following cases, which I extract, with needful simplifications, from Dr. Woodward.
'In June 1850, a living pond mussel, which had been more than a year out of water, was sent to Mr. Gray, from Australia. The big pond snails of the tropics have been found alive in logs of mahogany imported from Honduras; and M. Caillaud carried some from Egypt to Paris, packed in sawdust. Indeed, it isn't easy to ascertain116 the limit of their endurance; for Mr. Laidlay, having placed a number in a drawer for this very purpose, found them alive after five years' torpidity, although in the warm climate of Calcutta. The pretty snails called cyclostomas, which have a lid to their shells, are well known to survive imprisonments of many months; but in the ordinary open-mouthed land-snails such cases are even more remarkable. Several of the enormous tropical snails often used to decorate cottage mantelpieces, brought by Lieutenant118 Greaves from Valparaiso, revived after being packed, some for thirteen, others for twenty months. In 1849, Mr. Pickering received from Mr. Wollaston a basketful of Madeira snails (of twenty or thirty different kinds), three-fourths of which proved to be alive, after several months' confinement119, including a sea voyage. Mr. Wollaston has himself recorded the fact that specimens of two Madeira snails survived a fast and imprisonment117 in pill-boxes of two years and a half duration, and that large numbers of a small species, brought to England at the same time, were all living after being inclosed in a dry bag for a year and a half.'
Whether the snails themselves liked their long deprivation120 of food and moisture we are not informed; their personal tastes and inclinations121 were very little consulted in the matter; but as they and their ancestors for many generations must have been accustomed to similar long fasts during tropical droughts, in all likelihood they did not much mind it.
The real question, then, about the historical toad-in-a-hole narrows itself down in the end merely to this—how long is it credible122 that a cold-blooded creature might sustain life in a torpid or hibernating123 condition, without food, and with a very small quantity of fresh air, supplied (let us say) from time to time through an almost imperceptible fissure124? It is well known that reptiles125 and amphibians are particularly tenacious126 of life, and that some turtles in particular will live for months, or even for years, without tasting food. The common Greek tortoise, hawked127 on barrows about the streets of London and bought by a confiding128 British public under the mistaken impression that its chief fare consists of slugs and cockroaches129 (it is really far more likely to feed upon its purchaser's choicest seakale and asparagus), buries itself in the ground at the first approach of winter, and snoozes away five months of the year in a most comfortable and dignified130 torpidity. A snake at the Zoo has even been known to live eighteen months in a voluntary fast, refusing all the most tempting131 offers of birds and rabbits, merely out of pique132 at her forcible confinement in a strange cage. As this was a lady snake, however, it is possible that she only went on living out of feminine obstinacy133, so that this case really counts for very little.
Toads themselves are well known to possess all the qualities of mind and body which go to make up the career of a successful and enduring anchorite. At the best of times they eat seldom and sparingly, while a forty days' fast, like Dr. Tanner's, would seem to them but an ordinary incident in their everyday existence. In the winter they hibernate by burying themselves in the mud, or by getting down cracks in the ground. It is also undoubtedly134 true that they creep into holes wherever they can find one, and that in these holes they lie torpid for a considerable period. On the other hand, there is every reason to believe that they cannot live for more than a certain fixed and relatively135 short time entirely without food or air. Dr. Buckland tried a number of experiments upon toads in this manner—experiments wholly unnecessary, considering the trivial nature of the point at issue—and his conclusion was that no toad could get beyond two years without feeding or breathing. There can be very little doubt that in this conclusion he was practically correct, and that the real fine old crusted antediluvian toad-in-a-hole is really a snare136 and a delusion137.
That, however, does not wholly settle the question about such toads, because, even though they may not be all that their admirers claim for them, they may yet possess a very respectable antiquity138 of their own, and may be very far from the category of mere vulgar cheats and impostors. Because a toad is not as old as Methuselah, it need not follow that he may not be as old as Old Parr; because he does not date back to the Flood, it need not follow that he cannot remember Queen Elizabeth. There are some toads-in-a-hole, indeed, which, however we may account for the origin of their legend, are on the very face of it utterly139 incredible. For example, there is the favourite and immensely popular toad who was extracted from a perfectly closed hole in a marble mantelpiece. The implication of the legend clearly is that the toad was coeval140 with the marble. But marble is limestone141, altered in texture142 by pressure and heat, till it has assumed a crystalline structure. In other words we are asked to believe that that toad lived through an amount of fiery143 heat sufficient to burn him up into fine powder, and yet remains144 to tell the tale. Such a toad as this obviously deserves no credit. His discoverers may have believed in him themselves, but they will hardly get other people to do so.
Still, there are a great many ways in which it is quite conceivable that toads might get into holes in rocks or trees so as to give rise to the common stories about them, and might even manage to live there for a considerable time with very small quantities of food or air. It must be remembered that from the very nature of the conditions the hole can never be properly examined and inspected until after it has been split open and the toad has been extracted from it. Now, if you split open a tree or a rock, and find a toad inside it, with a cavity which he exactly fills, it is extremely difficult to say whether there was or was not a fissure before you broke the thing to pieces with your hatchet145 or pickaxe. A very small fissure indeed would be quite sufficient to account for the whole delusion; for if the toad could get a little air to breathe slowly during his torpid period, and could find a few dead flies or worms among the water that trickled146 scantily147 into his hole, he could manage to drag out a peaceful and monotonous existence almost indefinitely. Here are a few possible cases, any one of which will quite suffice to give rise to at least as good a toad-in-the-hole as ninety-nine out of a hundred published instances.
An adult toad buries himself in the mud by a dry pond, and gets coated with a hard solid coat of sun-baked clay. His nodule is broken open with a spade, and the toad himself is found inside, almost exactly filling the space within the cavity. He has only been there for a few months at the outside; but the clay is as hard as a stone, and to the bucolic148 mind looks as if it might have been there ever since the Deluge149. Good blue lias clay, which dries as solid as limestone, would perform this trick to perfection; and the toad might easily be relegated150 accordingly to the secondary ages of geology. Observe, however, that the actual toads so found are not the geological toads we should naturally expect under such remarkable circumstances, but the common everyday toads of modern England. This shows a want of accurate scientific knowledge on the part of the toads which is truly lamentable151. A toad who really wished to qualify himself for the post ought at least to avoid presenting himself before a critical eye in the foolish guise152 of an embodied153 anachronism. He reminds one of the Roman mother in a popular burlesque154, who suspects her son of smoking, and vehemently155 declares that she smells tobacco, but, after a moment, recollects156 the historical proprieties157, and mutters to herself, apologetically, 'No, not tobacco; that's not yet invented.' A would-be silurian or triassic toad ought, in like manner, to remember that in the ages to whose honours he aspires158 his own amphibian76 kind was not yet developed. He ought rather to come out in the character of a ceratodus or a labyrinthodon.
Again, another adult toad crawls into the hollow of a tree, and there hibernates. The bark partially159 closes over the slit160 by which he entered, but leaves a little crack by which air can enter freely. The grubs in the bark and other insects supply him from time to time with a frugal161 repast. There is no good reason why, under such circumstances, a placid52 and contented toad might not manage to prolong his existence for several consecutive162 seasons.
Once more, the spawn163 of toads is very small, as regards the size of the individual eggs, compared with the size of the full-grown animal. Nothing would be easier than for a piece of spawn or a tiny tadpole164 to be washed into some hole in a mine or cave, where there was sufficient water for its developement, and where the trickling165 drops brought down minute objects of food, enough to keep up its simple existence. A toad brought up under such peculiar circumstances might pass almost its entire life in a state of torpidity, and yet might grow and thrive in its own sleepy vegetative fashion.
In short, while it would be difficult in any given case to prove to a certainty either that the particular toad-in-a-hole had or had not access to air and food, the ordinary conditions of toad life are exactly those under which the delusive166 appearance of venerable antiquity would be almost certain frequently to arise. The toad is a nocturnal animal; it lives through the daytime in dark and damp places; it shows a decided167 liking168 for crannies and crevices169; it is wonderfully tenacious of life; it possesses the power of hibernation; it can live on extremely small quantities of food for very long periods of time together; it buries itself in mud or clay; it passes the early part of its life as a water-haunting tadpole; and last, not least, it can swell170 out its body to nearly double its natural size by inflating171 itself, which fully33 accounts for the stories of toads being taken out of holes every bit as big as themselves. Considering all these things, it would be wonderful indeed if toads were not often found in places and conditions which would naturally give rise to the familiar myth. Throw in a little allowance for human credulity, human exaggeration, and human love of the marvellous, and you have all the elements of a very excellent toad-in-the-hole in the highest ideal perfection.
At the same time I think it quite possible that some toads, under natural circumstances, do really remain in a torpid or semi-torpid condition for a period far exceeding the twenty-four months allowed as the maximum in Dr. Buckland's unpleasant experiments. If the amount of air supplied through a crack or through the texture of the stone were exactly sufficient for keeping the animal alive in the very slightest fashion—the engine working at the lowest possible pressure, short of absolute cessation—I see no reason on earth why a toad might not remain dormant172, in a moist place, with perhaps a very occasional worm or grub for breakfast, for at least as long a time as the desert snail slept comfortably in the British Museum. Altogether, while it is impossible to believe the stories about toads that have been buried in a mine for whole centuries, and still more impossible to believe in their being disentombed from marble mantelpieces or very ancient geological formations, it is quite conceivable that some toads-in-a-hole may really be far from mere vulgar impostors, and may have passed the traditional seven years of the Indian philosophers in solitary173 meditation174 on the syllable175 Om, or on the equally significant Ko-ax, Ko-ax of the irreverent Attic176 dramatist. "Certainly not a centenarian, but perhaps a good seven-year sleeper62 for all that," is the final verdict which the court is disposed to return, after due consideration of all the probabilities in re the toad-in-a-hole.
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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vigour
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calf
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vouched
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| v.保证( vouch的过去式和过去分词 )；担保；确定；确定地说 | |
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positively
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offhand
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forth
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acquitted
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exacting
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discourteous
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dexterously
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nominal
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perfectly
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specimen
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antediluvian
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writ
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prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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assail
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truthful
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degenerate
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unfamiliar
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technically
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investigation
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imputation
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prehistoric
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triumphant
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veracity
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fixed
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deliberately
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| v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会 | |
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35
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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36
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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37
painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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38
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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39
tampered
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| v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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40
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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41
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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42
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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43
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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44
snail
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| n.蜗牛 | |
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45
mollusk
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| n.软体动物 | |
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46
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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47
consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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48
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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49
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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50
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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51
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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52
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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53
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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54
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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55
wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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56
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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57
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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58
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
immured
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| v.禁闭，监禁( immure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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61
tentacles
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| n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛 | |
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62
sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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63
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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64
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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65
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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66
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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67
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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68
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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69
authenticated
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| v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效 | |
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70
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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71
torpidity
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| n.麻痹 | |
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72
analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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73
mythical
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| adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的 | |
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74
evolutionary
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| adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的 | |
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75
amphibians
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| 两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 )； 水陆两用车； 水旱两生植物； 水陆两用飞行器 | |
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76
amphibian
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| n.两栖动物；水陆两用飞机和车辆 | |
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77
contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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78
hibernates
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| （某些动物）冬眠，蛰伏( hibernate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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79
hibernate
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| v.冬眠，蛰伏 | |
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80
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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81
embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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82
aquariums
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| n.养鱼缸，水族馆( aquarium的名词复数 ) | |
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83
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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84
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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85
toads
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 ) | |
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86
immurement
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| n.监禁，禁闭 | |
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87
hibernation
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| n.冬眠 | |
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88
draught
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|
| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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89
combustion
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| n.燃烧；氧化；骚动 | |
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90
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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91
impairing
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|
| v.损害，削弱( impair的现在分词 ) | |
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92
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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93
immersion
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| n.沉浸；专心 | |
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94
resuscitated
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| v.使（某人或某物）恢复知觉，苏醒( resuscitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
stimulants
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| n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 )；含兴奋剂的饮料；刺激物；激励物 | |
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96
applied
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|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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97
decomposed
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| 已分解的，已腐烂的 | |
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98
functionally
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| adv.机能上地，官能地 | |
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99
structurally
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| 在结构上 | |
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100
precisely
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|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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101
peculiar
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|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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102
vegetarian
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| n.素食者；adj.素食的 | |
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103
conscientious
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|
| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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104
scruples
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| 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 ) | |
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105
expediency
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|
| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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106
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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107
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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108
oysters
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| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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109
monotonous
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|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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110
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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111
adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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112
snails
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| n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 ) | |
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113
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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114
respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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115
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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116
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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117
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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118
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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119
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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120
deprivation
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| n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困 | |
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121
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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122
credible
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| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
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123
hibernating
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| （某些动物）冬眠，蛰伏( hibernate的现在分词 ) | |
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124
fissure
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| n.裂缝；裂伤 | |
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125
reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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126
tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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127
hawked
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| 通过叫卖主动兜售（hawk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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128
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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129
cockroaches
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| n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 ) | |
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130
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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131
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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132
pique
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| v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气 | |
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133
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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134
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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135
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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136
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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137
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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138
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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139
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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140
coeval
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| adj.同时代的；n.同时代的人或事物 | |
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141
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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142
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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143
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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144
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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145
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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146
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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147
scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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148
bucolic
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| adj.乡村的；牧羊的 | |
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149
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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150
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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151
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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152
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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153
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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154
burlesque
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| v.嘲弄，戏仿；n.嘲弄，取笑，滑稽模仿 | |
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155
vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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156
recollects
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的第三人称单数 ) | |
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157
proprieties
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| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
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158
aspires
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的第三人称单数 ) | |
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159
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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160
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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161
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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162
consecutive
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| adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的 | |
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163
spawn
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| n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产 | |
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164
tadpole
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| n.[动]蝌蚪 | |
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165
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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166
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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167
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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168
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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169
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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170
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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171
inflating
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| v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的现在分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
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172
dormant
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| adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的 | |
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173
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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174
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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175
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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176
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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