Page 278 - 血字的研究·四签名(外研社双语读库) (福尔摩斯探案全集)

"I appreciate their importance. Here is my monograph
upon the tracing of footsteps, with some remarks upon the

uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses. Here,
too, is a curious little work upon the influence of a trade
upon the form of the hand, with lithotypes of the hands of
slaters, sailors, cork-cutters, compositors, weavers, and
diamond-polishers. That is a matter of great practical

interest to the scientific detective—especially in cases of
unclaimed bodies, or in discovering the antecedents of
criminals. But I weary you with my hobby."

“我认为它们非常重要。这是我写的关于追踪脚印的专论，里面还

提及如何利用熟石灰来保存这些印记。这里还有一些新奇的小作品，

是关于不同职业对人的手形的影响的，并附有石工、水手、木刻工
人、排字工人、织布工人和磨钻工人的手形插图。这些对于科学侦探

学有很大的实践意义——尤其是在遇上无名尸体和探究罪犯身份的时
候。我的爱好可能让你生厌。”

"Not at all," I answered earnestly. "It is of the greatest
interest to me, especially since I have had the opportunity
of observing your practical application of it. But you spoke
just now of observation and deduction. Surely the one to

some extent implies the other."

“一点儿也不，”我真诚地说，“我对它非常感兴趣，特别是自从
我有幸目睹你的亲身实践之后。不过，你刚才提到的观察和推理，很

明显其中一个在某种程度上会影响另外一个。”

"Why, hardly," he answered, leaning back luxuriously in

his armchair and sending up thick blue wreaths from his
pipe. "For example, observation shows me that you have
been to the Wigmore Street Post-Office this morning, but
deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a

telegram."

“哦不，几乎没有什么关联，”他回答，很舒服地靠在躺椅里，从
他的烟管里吐出浓浓的蓝色烟圈，“比如说，观察告诉我，你今天早上