英国学生科学读本 第92期:一盒火柴(1)

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　　We need fire every day, to warm our houses, or to cook our food, or to give us light. 我们每天都需要利用火来给房间加温、烹饪、照明。

　　Even savage¹ tribes use fire for such purposes as these. 即便是原始部落也离不开火, 因为他们同样需要生活。

　　How do people get the heat which is required to light their fires, and their lamps, or candles, or coal-gas? 人们如何获得点燃火堆、灯笼或蜡烛或煤气的热量呢?

　　Most savages² get a fire by rubbing two very dry pieces of wood together until they become so hot that at last the wood-dust catches fire. 大多数原始人的生火方法就是摩擦两块非常干燥的木块, 直到产生足够的热量来点燃木屑。

　　You may try to do this, but I do not think that you will succeed. 你也可以试试, 但我觉得你不太可能成功。

　　Fasten a smooth brass³ button to a cork⁴ so that you can hold it firmly, and rub the button as hard as you can on a rough piece of wood. 将一个平滑的铜质按扣固定在软木塞上, 确保两个东西牢牢固定在一起, 然后竭尽全力地在一块粗糙的木头上摩擦。

　　Soon the metal will become so hot that it will set fire to the head of a common match if it be pressed against it. 很快, 铜质按扣就会变得极热, 只需压在火柴头上便可将其点燃。

　　This shows that friction⁵, or the rubbing of one substance against another, produces heat. 这个事实说明, 摩擦, 或者说紧密接触的两个物体的来回移动, 能够产生热量。

　　Until about sixty years ago, the usual way to get a light in this country was to rub or strike a piece of the hard stone called flint against a piece of steel. 在从前的英国, 人们常用的生火方法就是利用一种名叫“燧石”的坚硬的石头去摩擦或者敲击铁片。这种情况一直持续到了六十年前。

　　Try this for yourself. 你也可以尝试一下这样的生火方法。

　　Rub a steel file with a flint in a dark room, and notice what pretty sparks you get.  在黑暗的房间中用钢锉在燧石上摩擦, 就能够看到漂亮的火花。

　　The sparks from the steel were caught on some dry tinder placed in a small metal box. 钢铁因为摩擦而产生的火花能够点燃金属盒中的干燥火绒。

　　Tinder was made by charring or partly burning linen⁶ or cotton rags. 火绒由木炭或者部分可燃的亚麻布或棉布制成。

　　The sparks made the tinder smoulder, and then splints of wood tipped with sulphur were pressed against the burning tinder and set on fire. 火花能够使得火绒闷烧, 随后, 人们将沾有硫磺的木头薄片放到燃烧的火绒之上, 于是便得到了火焰。

　　You have learned in a former book that sulphur is a yellow, solid substance which takes fire very easily. 通过以前的学习, 你应该知道, 硫磺是一种非常容易燃烧的黄色固体物质。

　　The sulphur caught fire from the tinder, and then it set the wood on fire, and so at last a light was obtained. 硫磺通过火绒进行燃烧, 然后再点燃木头, 这样便有了火焰与光亮。

　　But shortly before the time when Queen Victoria came to the throne, lucifer matches were invented. 就在维多利亚女王登基之前不久, 人们发明了黄磷火柴。

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