海底两万里 第162期 第11章 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色的底子，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，颜色鲜艳，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，塞内加尔岛的奇异唇贝，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，最为爱好贝壳的人所欢迎。