第66章 知识（1/2）

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&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp在没有遇到危险之前自己没有认真的阅读过神秘岛这本书，在遇到危险之后的一段时间也没有认真阅读，只是偶尔的一天对神秘岛这本书上的内容有了兴趣。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp此时工程师的一声喊喊叫使他们匆匆的赶过去，他们即刻跑到了他那里，并开始闻到一股刺鼻的气味弥漫于空气中。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspwhen a shout from the engineer made them hasten forward. They soon joined him， and were at once struck with a disagreeable odor which impregnated the atmosphere.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“这个火，”他说道，“或者确切的说，这是股烟，是自然界的产物。这里有一处硫磺泉，它对治疗我们的喉炎有良好的疗效。”

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“This fire，“ said he，“or rather， this smoke is produced by nature alone. There is a sulphur spring there， which will cure all our sore throats.“

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp在那儿，他们看见一股含硫磺泉水从岩石之间大量涌出来，泉水吸收了空气中的氧气以后，正散发出一股强烈的硫酸气味。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThey there saw a sulphur spring which flowed abundantly between the rocks， and its waters discharged a strong sulphuric acid odor， after having absorbed the oxygen of the air.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp砖坯通常是要用模子压出来的，可是工程师只好用手来做。这件工作一共做了整整两天，工人们把陶土浸在水里，手脚并用，把陶土调和好。然后把它们分成一样大小的一块一块。一个熟练的工人不用机器，十二个钟头可以做一万块左右，可是林肯岛上的这五个制砖工人，两天所做的还不到三千块。他们把制成的砖坯一块挨一块地排在一起，等过三四天完全烧干，就可以用来砌炉子了。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspGenerally bricks are foration would permit them to be used in building the oven， that is to say， in three or four days.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp4月6日，天刚破晓的时候，工程师和他的伙伴们就在林间空地上集合，打算在这里烧砖。这种工作通常不是在窑里而是在露天的地方进行的，凝结的砖坯砌成一个大窑，然后再用这个窑来烧砖坯本身。他们把捆好的木柴放在地上，把已经干了的砖坯成排地围在燃料外面，很快就围成一个立方形，在立方形的最外一层，又开了几个通气孔。这项工作整整进行了一天，直到傍晚，他们才开始在柴捆上点火。当天晚上大家都没有睡觉，全体都小心地照顾柴火，不使它熄灭。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspOn the 6th of April， at daybreak， the engineer and hispanions were collected in the glade， at the place where they were going to perform the operation of baking the bricks. Naturally this had to be in the open air， and not in a kiln， or rather， the agglomeration of bricks made an enormous kiln， which would bake itself. The fuel， made of well-prepared fagots， was laid on the ground and surrounded with several rows of dried bricks， which soon formed an enormous cube， to the exterior of which they contrived air- holes. The work lasted all day， and it was not till the evening that they set fire to the fagots. No one slept that night， all watching carefully to keep up the fire.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp烧砖工作继续了四十八小时，结果完全成功。接着还需要等热气腾腾的半成品冷却下来，在这期间，纳布和潘克洛夫由赛勒斯?哈顿带领着到湖的北边去，把那里的石灰石和普通的石头用一个树枝编成的筐子装了一大批回来。经过加热，它们就分解成一种浓度很强的生石灰，经过沸化，生石灰的体积大大膨胀了。它们的质地非常纯粹，至少和白垩或碳酸钙烧成的一样。把石灰和细沙搅拌在一起，就成了上等的灰泥。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThe operation lasted forty-eight hours， and succeeded perfectly. It then became necessary to leave the smoking mass to cool， and during this time Neb and Pencroft， guided by Cyrus Harding， brought， on a hurdle made of interlaced branches， loads of carbonate of lime andmon stones， which were very abundant， to the north of the lake. These stones， when dposed by heat， made a very strong quicklime， greatly increased by slacking， at least as pure as if it had been produced by the calcination of chalk or marble. Mixed with sand the lime made excellent mortar.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp这期间，居民们首先制造出一只烹调用的陶土罐。主要原料是陶土，哈顿在里面加了一些石灰和石英混合起来就成了正式的“管土”。他们拿适当形状的石头作模子，用陶土做成饭碗、茶杯，另外又做了一些盛水的大壶等等。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspIn the meantime what the settlers first manufactured was amon pottery in which to cook their food. The chief material was clay， to which Harding added a little lime and quartz. This paste made regular “pipe-clay，“ with which they manufactured bowls， cups molded on stones of a proper size， great jars and pots to hold water， etc.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp初升的月亮照亮了南边的水平线，在天空的衬托下，这部分水平线显得十分清晰。这时候，南十字座出现在观察家的眼前了，十字架二倒置在星座的底部，也就是离南极较近的地方。这个星座离南极比北极星离北极远。十字架二大约在距南极27度的方位，赛勒斯?哈顿知道这一点，在计算的时候就把这个角度估计在内了。当十字架二经过正对着南极的子午线时，他也仔细地进行了观察，这样工作就简单了。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp赛勒斯?哈顿把圆规的一只脚对着水平线，另一只脚对着十字架二，两只规脚之间的距离，就形成了十字架二和水平线之间的角距。为了把所得的这个角度固定下来，他用刺针把一根木条横钉在圆规的两只脚上，这样就可以把它们之间的角度适当地保留下来。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp做完了这一步工作，下一步只要计算一下角度就行了。但是首先要把水平线的俯角考虑在内，因此必须再到海平面上去进行观察，量一下峭壁的高度。有了上述的角度就可以求出十字架二的高度，从这里也可以求出天极在水平线上的高度，也就是海岛的纬度，困为地球上任何一个地方的纬度都永远等于当地天极在水平线上的高度。

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspTo the south the horizon， lighted by the first rays of the moon， was very clearly defined against the sky.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspAt this moment the Southern Cross presented itself to the observer in an inverted position， the star Alpha marking its base， which is nearer to the southern pole.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThis constellation is not situated as near to the antarctic pole as the Polar Star is to the arctic pole. The star Alpha is about twenty-seven degrees from it， but Cyrus Harding knew this and made allowance for it in his calculation. He took care also to observe the moment when it passed the meridian below the pole， which would simplify the operation.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspCyrus Harding pointed one leg of thepasses to the horizon， the other to Alpha， and the space between the two legs gave him the angular distance which separated Alpha from the horizon. In order to fix the angle obtained， he fastened with thorns the two pieces of wood on a third placed transversely， so that their separation should be properly maintained.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThat done， there was only the angle to calculate by bringing back the observation to the level of the sea， taking into consideration the depression of the horizon， which would necessitate measuring the height of the cliff. The value of this angle would give the height of Alpha， and consequently that of the pole above the horizon， that is to say， the latitude of the island， since the latitude of a point of the globe is always equal to the height of the pole above the horizon of this point.

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“你记得两个相似三角形应该具备的条件吗？”

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“记得，”赫伯特答道，“它们的对应边成比例。”

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“好，孩子，我刚做出两个相似的直角三角形，第一个比较小，它的三边是：那根垂直的木杆和从这根小棍子到木杆底部的距离，我的视线就是三角形的斜边，第二个三角形的三边是：垂直的峭壁——我们想测量的也就是它的高度——这根小棍子和峭壁底部之间的距离，和同样是由我的视线所形成的三角形斜边，这斜边也就是第一个三角形斜边的延长线。”

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“啊，哈顿先生，我明白了！”赫伯特大声说。“小棍子和木杆之间的距离比小棍子和峭壁底部之间的距离，就等于木杆的高度比峭壁的高度。”

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“You remember what are the properties of two similar triangles?“

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“Yes，“ replied Herbert“their homologous sides are proportional.“

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“Well， my boy， I have just constructed two similar right-angled triangles the first， the smallest， has for its sides the perpendicular pole， the distance which separates the little stick from the foot of the pole and my visual ray for hypothenuse the second has for its sides the perpendicular cliff， the height of which we wish to measure， the distance which separates the little stick from the bottom of the cliff， and my visual ray also forms its hypothenuse， which proves to be prolongation of that of the first triangle.“

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp“Ah， captain， I understand!“ cried Herbert.“As the distance from the stick to the pole is to the distance from the stick to the base of the cliff， so is the height of the pole to the height of the cliff.“