萬物簡史 第105期:勢不兩立的科學(xué)(13)

Unaware that disappointment was going to be acontinuing feature of his life, Mantell continuedhunting for fossils—he found another giant, theHylaeosaurus, in 1833—and purchasing others fromquarrymen and farmers until he had probably thelargest fossil collection in Britain. Mantell was anexcellent doctor and equally gifted bone hunter, buthe was unable to support both his talents. As hiscollecting mania grew, he neglected his medicalpractice. Soon fossils filled nearly the whole of hishouse in Brighton and consumed much of hisincome. Much of the rest went to underwriting the publication of books that few cared to own.Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex , published in 1827, sold only fifty copies and left him 300pounds out of pocket—an uncomfortably substantial sum for the times.

曼特爾不知道失望會(huì)伴隨自己的一生，繼續(xù)尋找化石——1833年，他發(fā)現(xiàn)了另一個(gè)龐然大物雨蛙龍——并從采石場工人和農(nóng)夫手里買回別的化石，最后很可能成了英國最大的化石收藏家。曼特爾是一位杰出的醫(yī)生，在搜集骨頭方面也同樣很有天賦，但他無法同時(shí)維持這兩方面的才能。隨著他越來越熱衷于搜集工作，他忽視了醫(yī)生職業(yè)。過不多久，他在布賴頓的家里幾乎塞滿了化石，花掉了大部分收入。剩下的錢被用來支付書的出版費(fèi)用，而他的書又極少人愿意購買。1827年出版的《蘇塞克斯的地質(zhì)說明》只賣掉了50本，很不開心地倒貼了300英鎊——這在當(dāng)時(shí)是一筆不小的數(shù)目。

In some desperation Mantell hit on the idea of turning his house into a museum and chargingadmission, then belatedly realized that such a mercenary act would ruin his standing as agentleman, not to mention as a scientist, and so he allowed people to visit the house for free.They came in their hundreds, week after week, disrupting both his practice and his home life.Eventually he was forced to sell most of his collection to pay off his debts. Soon after, his wifeleft him, taking their four children with her.

曼特爾在絕望之中靈機(jī)一動(dòng)，把自己的房子改成了博物館，收取門票費(fèi)。然而，他后來意識(shí)到這種商業(yè)行為會(huì)損害他的紳士地位，且不說科學(xué)家的地位——于是就讓別人免費(fèi)參觀他的家庭博物館。成百上千的人前來參觀，一個(gè)星期又一個(gè)星期，既中斷了他的行醫(yī)工作，又?jǐn)_亂了他的家庭生活。最后，為了償還債務(wù)，他不得不變賣絕大部分收藏品。過不多久，他的妻子帶著他的四個(gè)孩子離他而去。

Remarkably, his troubles were only just beginning.

值得注意的是，他的麻煩才剛剛開始。