2015年9月28日 星期一

What the narwhal's tusk is really for 獨角鯨的長牙用來....

Herman Melville, who died September 28th 1891, joked that narwhals' tusks are used to open letters. He was quite wrong: they are actually used to attract mates. (Narwhals with big tusks are well endowed at the other end too.) From the archive:
赫爾曼 · 梅爾維爾,1891 年 9 月 28 日去世,享年開玩笑說,獨角鯨的長牙用來打開信件。他完全錯了: 他們實際上用來吸引伴侶。(獨角鯨的大獠牙好天生的另一端也。)從存檔:
EVER since Europeans began trading the whorled ivory tusk of the narwhal in the 12th century, people have puzzled over its purpose. Early research was hampered...
ECON.ST

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