On leaving Calne, Priestley repaired to London. His position was somewhat precarious1, as he had practically nothing but his allowance from Lord Shelburne to support him. This, although larger than the stipend2 he had enjoyed at Leeds, was barely sufficient for his growing family. Friends however were not wanting to come to his assistance. Indeed, during his residence at Calne, some of them observing, as they said, that many of his experiments had not been carried to their proper extent on account of the expense that would have attended them, proposed to supply him with whatever sums he should want for that purpose and named a hundred pounds per annum.
“This large subscription3 I declined,” he says, “lest the discovery of it (by the use that I should, of course, make of it) should give umbrage4 to Lord Shelburne; but I consented to accept forty pounds per annum, which from that time he (Dr Fothergill) regularly paid me from the contribution of himself, Sir Theodore Jansen, Mr Constable5 and Sir George Savile.”
This sentence is characteristic of Priestley and of much of his autobiography6. Probably no man with so many enemies had such troops of friends, and certainly none had so many and such generous benefactors7. And the measure of their beneficence was only equalled by that of Priestley’s gratitude8 and sense of obligation. Indeed, he says the chief object he had in putting together his 90 memoirs9 was that he thought it right to leave behind him some account of his friends and benefactors, and accordingly we find that the incidents in his career are dwelt upon by him rather with the idea of illustrating10 his indebtedness to others than as records of his own achievements.
On his removal to London, where he contemplated11 resuming his profession as a teacher, Dr Fothergill and his co-subscribers considerably12 increased his allowance for experiments, whilst at the same time other friends were not less zealous14 that he should have the means to pursue his theological studies and to publish the fruits of his labours.
Indeed, all who could in any way assist seemed to vie with one another in help. Parker, the optician of Fleet Street, supplied him with every instrument that he wanted in glass, and Wedgwood, the potter, sent him innumerable retorts, tubes and other articles of clay. Without such assistance he could not have carried on his experiments, except on a very small scale and under great disadvantages.
During Lord Rockingham’s administration, and subsequently at the beginning of that of Mr Pitt, some suggestions were made to provide Priestley with a pension to assist in defraying the expense of his inquiries15.[14]
He however declined all overtures16 of this kind, wishing, as he said, to preserve himself independent of everything connected with the court, and preferring the 91 assistance of individuals who were lovers of liberty as well as of science.
His winter’s residence in London threw him constantly into the society of his old friend Franklin; indeed, he says, as members of the same club few days passed without their seeing one another, and their friendship ripened17 into the closest intimacy18.
There can be no doubt that this intercourse19 with Franklin not only led Priestley to the study of natural science, but quickened and fostered his love of civil and political liberty. Priestley in his autobiography does ample justice to Franklin’s efforts to maintain the union of the American Colonies with this country.
“But Franklin,” says Mr Choate (Inaugural address as President of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, October 23, 1903), “was more than a staunch Loyalist. He was an Imperialist in the most stalwart sense of the word, and on a very broad gauge20.”
His biographer, Parton, truly says:—
“It was one of Franklin’s most cherished opinions that the greatness of England and the happiness of America depended chiefly upon their being cordially united. The ‘country’ which Franklin loved was not England nor America, but the great and glorious Empire which these two united to form.”
In writing to Lord Kames, he said:—
“I have long been of opinion that the foundations of the future grandeur21 and stability of the British Empire lie in America; and though, like other foundations, they are low and little now, they are nevertheless broad and strong enough to support the greatest political structure that human wisdom ever yet erected22.”
In 1774 he wrote:—
“It has long appeared to me that the only true British policy was that which aimed at the good of the whole British Empire, 92 not that which sought the advantage of one part in the disadvantage of the others; therefore all measures of procuring23 gain to the Mother Country arising from loss to her colonies, and all gain to the Colonies arising from or occasioning loss to Britain, especially where the gain was small and the loss was great ... I in my own mind condemned24 as improper25, partial, unjust and mischievous26, tending to create dissensions and weaken that union on which the strength, solidity and duration of the Empire greatly depended; and I opposed, as far as my little powers went, all proceedings27, either here or in America, that in my opinion had such tendency.”
Priestley’s testimony29 is no less explicit30. He says:—
“The unity31 of the British Empire in all its parts was a favourite idea of his. He used to compare it to a beautiful china vase which, if ever broken, could never be put together again, and so great an admirer was he of the British constitution that he said he saw no inconvenience from its being extended over a great part of the globe.”
In the autobiography we further read:—
“I can bear witness that he (Franklin) was so far from promoting, as was generally supposed, that he took every method in his power to prevent a rupture32 between the two countries. He urged so much the doctrine33 of forbearance, that for some time he was unpopular with the Americans on that account, as too much a friend to Great Britain. His advice to them was to bear everything for the present, as they were sure in time to outgrow34 all their grievances35, as it could not be in the power of the Mother Country to oppress them long.
“He dreaded36 the war, and often said that if the difference should come to an open rupture it would be a war of ten years, and he should not live to see the end of it. In reality the war lasted nearly eight years, but he did not live to see the happy termination of it. That the issue would be favourable37 to America he never doubted. The English, he used to say, may take all our great towns, but that will not give them possession of the country. The last day that he spent in England, having given out that he should leave London the day before, we passed together without any other company; and much of the time was employed in reading American 93 newspapers, especially accounts of the reception which the ‘Boston Port Bill’ met with in America; and as he read the addresses to the inhabitants of Boston from the places in the neighbourhood the tears trickled38 down his cheeks.”
What Franklin thought of Priestley may be gathered from the following extract from one of his letters to Vaughan, one of Priestley’s Warrington pupils, written in October 1788 after his return to America:—
“Remember me affectionately to the good Dr Price and to the honest heretic, Dr Priestley. I do not call him honest by way of distinction, for I think all the heretics I have known have been virtuous39 men. They have the virtue40 of fortitude41, or they would not venture to own their heresy42; and they cannot afford to be deficient43 in any of the other virtues44, as that would give advantage to their many enemies; and they have not, like orthodox sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justify45 them. Do not, however, mistake me. It is not to my good friend’s heresy that I impute46 his honesty. On the contrary ’tis his honesty that has brought upon him the character of heretic.”
In 1780, at the suggestion of his brother-in-law, John Wilkinson, one of his truest friends, Priestley was led to take up his residence in Birmingham. There were many circumstances which made this step desirable. In Birmingham he had friends prepared to welcome him and society in every way sympathetic and congenial. Moreover, he was desirous of resuming his ministerial duties, which had been intermitted for the past six or seven years, and an opportunity of doing so, with a congregation not less liberal than he had served at Leeds, offered itself, owing to the approaching retirement47 of Mr Hawkes from the charge of the New Meeting. As regards his philosophical48 pursuits he had the convenience of good workmen of every kind and he could count upon the practical sympathy and interest of men like Watt50, his partner Boulton, Keir, Withering51, Wedgwood, 94 Erasmus Darwin, and the Galtons, all at that time living in Birmingham or in its vicinity. These men and their friends constituted indeed a cultured society without a parallel in any other town in the kingdom, except possibly in the Metropolis52. The more eminent53 of them formed themselves into an association, to which frequent reference is made in the biographical literature of the period, on account of the part which it played in the social and intellectual life of the Midlands.
The Lunar Society of Birmingham appears to have been formed about the year 1766 by Matthew Boulton and Erasmus Darwin, at that time resident in Birmingham. The members were about ten or a dozen in number and met at each other’s houses for dinner once a month on the Monday nearest to the full moon, in order to have the benefit of its light in returning home. They were in the habit of sitting down to dinner at two o’clock and their meeting lasted until eight.
Each member was allowed to bring a friend, and thus it happened that many distinguished54 men were recipients55, at various times, of the Club’s hospitality. Among them we find Wedgwood, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Herschel, Smeaton, the builder of the Eddystone Lighthouse; Dr Samuel Parr, the critic; Afzelius, the teacher of Berzelius; Solander, the well-known naturalist56 and traveller; De Luc and other names eminent in the literary and scientific annals of the century.
As might be supposed from what we know of its founders58 and their friends the constitution of the society was on the broadest possible basis. “We had nothing to do,” says Priestley, “with the religious or political principles of each other; we were united by a common 95 love of science, which we thought sufficient to bring together persons of all distinctions—Christians, Jews, Mahometans and heathens, Monarchists and Republicans.”
The invitations issued by the host were usually accompanied by some intimation of the nature of the impending59 symposium60. Thus Watt writes to Darwin, under date Jan. 3, 1781:—
“I beg that you would impress on your memory the idea that you promised to dine with sundry61 men of learning at my house on Monday next, and that you will realise the idea. For your encouragement there is a new book to be cut up, and it is to be determined62 whether or not heat is a compound of phlogiston and empyreal air, and whether a mirror can reflect the heat of the fire. I give you a friendly warning that you may be found wanting whichever opinion you adopt in the latter question, therefore be cautious. If you are meek63 and humble64, perhaps you may be told what light is made of, and also how to make it, and the theory proved both by synthesis and analysis.”
The discussions of the philosophic49 convives were not, however, confined exclusively to chemistry.
“The period,” says Mr Carrington Bolton, “was one of great activity in the world of science; Laplace was applying his mathematical genius to the problems of astronomy; Herschel was sweeping65 the heavens with his gigantic telescopes; Galvani and Volta were laying the foundations of a revolution in electricity; Count Rumford in Bavaria was devoting his great energy to industrial and social economy; Hatton and Werner were geologising in their respective countries; Haüy was systematising the innumerable crystalline forms occurring in nature; the Montgolfier brothers were experimenting with air-balloons and prophesying66 the yet unsolved problem of a?rial navigation; Captain James Cook returned from his memorable67 voyages around the world, full of adventures and novelties in nature: the application of steam to the driving of land carriages and the propelling of boats was gradually being perfected by patience and genius. These, together with the metaphysical and even 96 the political questions of the day, must have engrossed69 the attention of the talented friends who dined together at the full moon.”
A picturesque70 account of the Club is given in Mrs Schimmelpenninck’s Memoirs. Mary Ann Schimmelpenninck (née Galton) was the daughter of Mr Samuel Galton, a wealthy patron of letters and a man of considerable intellectual ability. He was interested in scientific pursuits and was a fellow of the Royal Society. His house at Barr, about seven or eight miles from Birmingham, was a notable place in the social life of the district, and the Lunar Society held some of its most delightful71 meetings under his hospitable72 roof, as Mrs Schimmelpenninck recalls. She thus writes of Dr Priestley:—
“A man of admirable simplicity73, gentleness and kindness of heart, united with great acuteness of intellect. I can never forget the impression produced on me by the serene74 expression of his countenance75.”
In his Memoirs Richard Lovell Edgeworth says of the Society that it consisted of—
“Men of very different characters, but all devoted76 to literature and science. This mutual77 intimacy has never been broken but by death, nor have any of the number failed to distinguish themselves in science or literature. Some may think I ought, with due modesty78, to except myself. Mr Keir, with his knowledge of the world and good sense; Dr Small, with his benevolence79 and profound sagacity; ... Boulton, with his mobility80, quick perception and bold adventure; Watt, with his strong inventive faculty81, undeviating steadiness and bold resources; Darwin, with his imagination, science and poetical82 excellence83; and Day, with his unwearied research after truth, his integrity and eloquence84, proved altogether such a society as few men have had the good fortune to live with; such an assemblage of friends as fewer still have had the happiness to possess and keep through life.”
97
There can be no doubt that Priestley’s coming to Birmingham contributed greatly to the interest of the meetings of the Lunar Society and reacted beneficially on Priestley himself by stimulating85 his activity and affording him the sympathy of congenial minds not less interested than he was in the study of natural science. As each meeting came round he was certain to find a gathering86 curious to hear of his latest experiments and eager to discuss with him their bearing upon the chemical doctrine of the period.
Priestley’s influence and position in the Society may be inferred from the circumstance that almost immediately after he joined it Pneumatic Chemistry became one of the chief topics of discussion. This is amply demonstrated in the correspondence of its various members, which has been preserved to us in the biographies of Watt, Wedgwood and others, and in the scientific letters of Priestley, which have been collected and edited by Mr H. Carrington Bolton. One direct outcome of this interest is seen in Watt’s connection with the History of the Discovery of the Composition of Water. It is reasonably certain that if Watt and Priestley had not foregathered round the festive87 board of the Lunar Society, Watt would not have been stimulated88 to theorise on the meaning and true significance of Priestley’s experiments, and as to their bearing upon the fact that Priestley’s dephlogisticated air (oxygen) and inflammable air (hydrogen) enter into the composition of water. Watt’s claim to be considered as the discoverer of the composition of water rests upon his interpretation89 of the experimental phenomena90 made known to him by Priestley shortly after his arrival in Birmingham. The Water Controversy91—a controversy which keenly 98 excited the entire scientific world a generation or so ago—may be said to have arisen from the accident of Priestley’s removal to Birmingham and to his association with the Lunar Society.
Priestley’s connection with the Society influenced the progress of chemistry in this country both directly and indirectly92. As already stated, he himself was greatly stimulated to accumulate chemical facts by his association with men like Boulton, Watt, Wedgwood, Keir, Darwin, who loved knowledge for its own sake, but who were at the same time quite alive to the material benefits which they and their fellow-men might derive93 from the pursuit of scientific inquiry94. The measure of their interest may be gauged95 by the extent of their support, and by the readiness with which they furnished Priestley with the means to carry on his investigations96. Priestley not only freely communicated to them the results of his labours, but he incidentally fixed97 their attention on a class of phenomena which, more than any other, were calculated to afford an insight into the real nature of chemical change, and to lead to a rational explanation of chemical phenomena.
Priestley was not consciously a casuist, but there can be no question that the interpretation which his active and ingenious mind occasionally led him to place upon his work not only served to blind himself, but was the means of obscuring the truth for a time from others. We have only to read the correspondence, already more than once alluded98 to, to find ample proof that such was the case. In a letter to Wedgwood, of March 30, 1781, Boulton writes:—
“We have long talked of phlogiston without knowing what we talked about; but now that Dr Priestley hath brought the 99 matter to light we can pour that element out of one vessel99 into another; can tell how much of it by accurate measurement is necessary to reduce a calx to a metal, which is easily done, and without putting that calx into contact with any visible thing. In short, this goddess of levity100 can be measured and weighed like other matter. For the rest, I refer you to the doctor himself.”
In the following year (March 21, 1782) we find Priestley also writing to Wedgwood:—
“Before my late experiments, phlogiston was indeed almost given up by the Lunar Society, but now it seems to be re-established.”
How difficult it was to convince Priestley may be seen from the following extract from a letter to his friend Franklin, who was then in Paris, written at about the same time:—
“Birmingham, June 24, 1782.
“Please to inform the Duc de Rochefoucauld, whose civilities to me I remember with pleasure, that my experiments are certainly inconsistent with Mr Lavoisier’s supposition of there being no such thing as phlogiston, and that it is the addition of air, and not the loss of anything, that converts a metal into a calx. In their usual state calces of metals do not contain air, but that may be expelled by heat, and after this I reduce them to a perfect metallic101 state by nothing but inflammable air, which they imbibe102 in toto, without any decomposition103. I lately reduced 101 ounce measures of this air to two by calx of lead, and that small remainder was still inflammable. I explain Mr Lavoisier’s experiments by supposing that precipitate104 per se [mercuric oxide] contains all the phlogiston of the metal mercury, but in a different state; but I can show other calces which also contain more phlogiston than the metals themselves. That mercury in its metallic state does contain phlogiston or inflammable air is evident from the production of nitrous air by the solution of it in spirits of nitre, and I make nitrous air from nothing but nitrous vapour and inflammable air; so that it indisputably consists of these two ingredients. I have already ascertained105 100 the proportion of inflammable air that enters into the composition of lead, tin, copper106 and silver, and am proceeding28 with the other metals as fast as I can. When the whole is completed I shall give you a further account of it.
“I am exceedingly concerned to find that it is so difficult a thing to make peace; but I hope before the campaign is over all parties will have had enough of war, and be sensible that they will gain nothing by continuing it. If I had any voice in the business, the prospect107 of seeing you in this country would be a strong additional motive108 to accelerate the negotiations109.
“With the greatest respect and every good wish.—I am, dear sir, yours sincerely, J. Priestley.”
There were already many indications prior to 1780 that men were beginning to be troubled as to the sufficiency of Stahl’s generalisation to account for the rapidly-accumulating mass of facts which the application of quantitative110 chemistry to the study of natural phenomena was bringing to light. Priestley’s advent68 in Birmingham certainly retarded111 by the weight of his authority the growth in heterodoxy in that particular among the members of the Lunar Society, and indirectly therefore all whom they could influence.
The following letter from Keir is typical of many which passed between the members of the Society in reference to Priestley’s work and of the discussions which it occasioned.
Keir to Priestley.
“The more we discover of Nature, the further we are removed from the conceit112 of our being able to understand the operations.
“I wish M. Berthollet and his associates would relate their facts in plain prose, that all men might understand them, and reserve their poetry of the new nomenclature for their theoretical commentaries on the facts.
“I have wished much to call on you to hear of the progress of your experiments, but have been much indisposed with the 101 rheumatism113. I long to know what acids you get with the other inflammable airs. If you get different acids from the inflammable air made from sulphur and water, that made from marine114 acid and copper (for I would avoid iron on account of its plumbago and carbon), and that made from charcoal115 and water:—I say, if these acids are different (suppose, according to my notions, vitriolic116, marine and fixed air), then will you not be obliged to admit that there is not one inflammable but many inflammables, which opinion you now think as heterodox as the Athanasian System.
“However, there are wonderful resources in the dispute about Phlogiston, by which either party can evade117, so that I am less sanguine118 than you are in my hopes of seeing it terminated. One consolation119 remains120, that in your experiments you cannot fail of discovering something perhaps of as great or greater importance for us to know.”
Nevertheless, even in the Club itself there was at least one man who came under the influence of Priestley, but who eventually emancipated121 himself, and this was Withering, who, we are informed, read to them “a humorous piece in verse entitled ‘The Life and Death of Phlogiston,’ which was long remembered for its clever treatment and pointed122 wit.”
That Priestley’s influence still reigned123 in the Club, even down to 1803, may be inferred from the introduction to his essay, “The Doctrine of Phlogiston Established”—the last of his scientific papers—in which he says, “And now that Dr Crawford is dead, I hardly know of any person, except my friends of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, who adhere to the doctrine of Phlogiston.”
As regards the history of the Lunar Society there is little more to tell. One by one its members submitted themselves to the arrest of the “fell sergeant,” and eventually Keir, Watt, and Boulton, the founder57, were 102 the only survivors124, and its meetings were gradually discontinued.
“But,” says its historian, “the influence exerted by the Society did not die; it had stimulated inquiry and quickened the zeal13 for knowledge of all who had come within its influence, and this spirit diffused125 and propagated itself in all directions.”
Leonard Horner, who visited Soho in 1809, thus refers to the continued moral influence of the association:—
“The remnant of the Lunar Society,” he says, “and the fresh remembrance in others of the remarkable126 men who composed it, are very interesting. The impression which they made is not yet worn out, but shows itself to the second and third generation, in a spirit of scientific curiosity and free inquiry, which even yet makes some stand against Toryism and the love of gain.”
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56 naturalist | |
n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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57 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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58 founders | |
n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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59 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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60 symposium | |
n.讨论会,专题报告会;专题论文集 | |
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61 sundry | |
adj.各式各样的,种种的 | |
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62 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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63 meek | |
adj.温顺的,逆来顺受的 | |
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64 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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65 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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66 prophesying | |
v.预告,预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
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67 memorable | |
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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68 advent | |
n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临 | |
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69 engrossed | |
adj.全神贯注的 | |
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70 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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71 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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72 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
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73 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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74 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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75 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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76 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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77 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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78 modesty | |
n.谦逊,虚心,端庄,稳重,羞怯,朴素 | |
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79 benevolence | |
n.慈悲,捐助 | |
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80 mobility | |
n.可动性,变动性,情感不定 | |
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81 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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82 poetical | |
adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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83 excellence | |
n.优秀,杰出,(pl.)优点,美德 | |
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84 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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85 stimulating | |
adj.有启发性的,能激发人思考的 | |
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86 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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87 festive | |
adj.欢宴的,节日的 | |
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88 stimulated | |
a.刺激的 | |
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89 interpretation | |
n.解释,说明,描述;艺术处理 | |
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90 phenomena | |
n.现象 | |
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91 controversy | |
n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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92 indirectly | |
adv.间接地,不直接了当地 | |
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93 derive | |
v.取得;导出;引申;来自;源自;出自 | |
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94 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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95 gauged | |
adj.校准的;标准的;量规的;量计的v.(用仪器)测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 );估计;计量;划分 | |
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96 investigations | |
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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97 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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98 alluded | |
提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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100 levity | |
n.轻率,轻浮,不稳定,多变 | |
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101 metallic | |
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的 | |
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102 imbibe | |
v.喝,饮;吸入,吸收 | |
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103 decomposition | |
n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃 | |
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104 precipitate | |
adj.突如其来的;vt.使突然发生;n.沉淀物 | |
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105 ascertained | |
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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106 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
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107 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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108 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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109 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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110 quantitative | |
adj.数量的,定量的 | |
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111 retarded | |
a.智力迟钝的,智力发育迟缓的 | |
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112 conceit | |
n.自负,自高自大 | |
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113 rheumatism | |
n.风湿病 | |
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114 marine | |
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵 | |
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115 charcoal | |
n.炭,木炭,生物炭 | |
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116 vitriolic | |
adj.硫酸的,尖刻的 | |
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117 evade | |
vt.逃避,回避;避开,躲避 | |
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118 sanguine | |
adj.充满希望的,乐观的,血红色的 | |
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119 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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120 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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121 emancipated | |
adj.被解放的,不受约束的v.解放某人(尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚)( emancipate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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122 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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123 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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124 survivors | |
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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125 diffused | |
散布的,普及的,扩散的 | |
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126 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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