11 诺第留斯号(13)

An excitable conchologist would surely have fainted dead away before other, more numerous glass cases in which were classified specimens from the mollusk branch.

一位神经稍微锐敏一点的贝壳类专家,到了另一些陈列软体类动物标本的玻璃柜面前,一定要高兴得发昏了。

There I saw a collection of incalculable value that I haven't time to describe completely.

我这里看见的这一套标本,简直是无价之宝,时间不允许我一一加以描写。

Among these exhibits I'll mention, just for the record:

在这些珍品中,我仅仅为了备忘起见举出数种:

an elegant royal hammer shell from the Indian Ocean, whose evenly spaced white spots stood out sharply against a base of red and brown;

首先是美丽的印度洋的王槌贝,贝身上的规律白点衬着红棕的底子,鲜明突出。

an imperial spiny oyster, brightly colored, bristling with thorns, aspecimen rare to European museums, whose value I estimated at 20,000 francs;

其次,棘皮王风,颜鲜艳,全身长着棘刺,是欧洲博物馆中罕有的品种,我估计它的价值为两万法郎。

a common hammer shell from the seas near Queensland, very hard to come by;

其次,新荷兰岛海中的普通糙贝,这种贝很不容易捕获。

exotic cockles from Senegal, fragile white bivalve shells that a single breath could pop like a soap bubble;

其次,塞加尔岛的奇异唇贝,这贝的两片脆酥白壳好像是肥皂泡,一吹就要消散似的。

several varieties of watering-pot shell from Java, a sort of limestone tube fringed with leafy folds and much fought over by collectors.

其次,几种爪哇伪喷水壶形贝,这种贝像是边缘有叶状皱纹的石灰质的管子,最为好贝壳的人所欢迎。