Lesson 20-3 Snake poison
Vipers (adders)and rattlesnakes manufacture the blood poison, which is known as haemolytic. Both poisons are unpleasant, but by far the more unpleasant is the blood poison. It is said that the nerve poison is the more primitive of the two, that the blood poison is, so to speak, a newer product from an improved formula. Be that as it may, the nerve poison does its business with man far more quickly than the blood poison. This, however, means nothing. Snakes did not acquire their poison for use against man but for use against prey such as rats and mice, and the effects on these of viperine poison is almost immediate.
viper /ˈvaɪpər/ 毒蛇;蝰蛇
adder 蝮蛇
rattlesnake /ˈrætlsneɪk/ 响尾蛇
haemolytic 溶血的
by far the more unpleasant 更难受得多
primitive /ˈprɪmətɪv/ 原始的;
so to speak 可以这样说，打个比方说
formula /ˈfɔːrmjələ/ 公式;配方，处方
does its business with man 在人的身上发挥作用
viperine 毒蛇的
网友评论