达尔文与古植物学中的“讨厌之谜”(abominable mystery)

------并非出自《物种起源》

    达尔文（Charles Darwin，1809--1882）称被子植物在距今约1.1亿年的白垩纪地层“突然”出现是一个“讨厌之谜”（abominable mystery）。有些人误以为这是达尔文在他的《物种起源》一书提出的。其实，在《物种起源》书中根本就没有英文“abominable”一词。

    实际上，1879年7月22日达尔文在给植物学家Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker（1817--1911）的科学通信里谈及John Ball（1818--1889）的一篇论文，并谈到这个“讨厌之谜”（abominable mystery）。达尔文所说的“讨厌之谜”是古植物学中的一个重大科学问题：地球上的早期被子植物是如何起源和快速分异的？

1.  John Ball（1818--1889）的论文

       John Ball ( 1818 --1889) 是爱尔兰政治家，也是一位博物学家。他于1868年6月4日当选为英国皇家学会会员（院士）。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ball_(naturalist)

      1879年，John Ball发表了有关欧洲阿尔卑斯山植物区系起源的论文：

Ball , J. 1879 . On the origin of the flora of the European Alps. Proceedings of the Royal Geographic Society and Monthly Record of Geography 1: 564 – 589 .

2. “小胡克”-- Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker（1817--1911）

       Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker（1817--1911）是非常有名的英国植物学家，他于1847年4月22日当选为英国皇家学会会员（院士）。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Dalton_Hooker

    在植物学历史上，Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker（1817--1911）常被称为“小胡克”。他的父亲是“老胡克”--Sir William Jackson Hooker ( 1785 -- 1865)。“老胡克”于1812年1月9日当选为英国皇家学会会员（院士）。

“小胡克”的第一位岳父是达尔文的植物学老师—剑桥大学John Stevens Henslow教授( 1796 --1861)。

3. 达尔文1879年7月22日写给Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker的科学通信

My dear Hooker

If my memory serves me rightly Dyer [William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, Assistant Director of Kew Gardens] has left Kew for his holidays, and so I write to you to ask you if by any chance you have seeds of Lathyrus aphaca or any young seedlings 2 or 3 of which could be potted. If I receive no answer I shall understand that you cannot aid me. — I want to try whether the tendrils are apheliotropic,for I record that they revolve very little, I conjecture that they may find a support by bendingt oward any dark objects. —

Our book on the movements of Plants [The Power of Movement in Plants , 1880, written by Charles Darwin and “ assisted ” by his son Francis Darwin] will, I think, contain a good deal of new matter, but will be intolerably dull. I have been working pretty hard of late & want rest &change, so we all go on August 1st to Coniston for a month. It is an awful journey to me. — It is a long time since I have heard any news of you & yours & what you are doing &intending to do. Frank [Francis] comes back in the beginning of next month from Würzburg, where he has been working pretty hard on various subjects and practicing dissection, cutting slices & c. I have just read Ball’s essay. It is pretty bold. The rapid development, as far as we can judge, of all the higher plants within recent geological times is an abominable mystery.

Certainly it w d be a great step if we could believe that the higher plants at first could live only at a high level; but until it is experimentally [proved]

that Cycade æ , ferns etc., can withstand much more carbonic acid than the higher plants, the hypothesis seems to me far too rash. Saporta believes that there was an astonishingly rapid development of the highplants, as soon [as] fl ower-frequenting insects were developed & favoured intercrossing. I sh d like to see this whole problem solved. I have fancied that perhaps there was during long ages a small isolated continent in the S. hemisphere, which served as the birth place of the higher plants; but this is a wretchedly poor conjecture. It is odd that Ball does not allude to the obvious fact that there must have been alpine plants before the Glacial period, many of which would have returned to the mountains after the Glacial period when the climate again became warm. I always accounted to myself in this manner for the Gentians etc.

Ball ought also to have considered the Alpine insects common to the arctic regions. I do not know how it may be with you, but myfaith in the Glacial migration is not at all shaken. Ever my dear old friendy ours truly

Ch. Darwin

P.S. I shall have to return some plants to Kew when we leave home. — Your plant of Smilax aspera has been injured by scale insects which were only lately detected. — Is this worth returning? It is a large bush.

（孙启高  2014年8月6日整理）

----------------------------------

相关文献：

http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin/

William E. Friedman，2009. THE MEANING OF DARWIN ’ S “ ABOMINABLE MYSTERY”, American Journal of Botany96(1): 5–21. [该文在致谢中提到现任哈佛科学史教授Elizabeth Janet Browne（1950--）]

古植物学的故事225期[总第226期]

Story of Palaeobotany Series (No.225) [The 216th issue in total]

达尔文与古植物学中的“讨厌之谜”—并非出自《物种起源》

Charles Darwin did not mention “abominable mystery”in the Origin of Species in 1859. [Charles Darwin mentioned it in his 22 July 1879 letter to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker（1817--1911）.]

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-225931-817660.html

2014-8-701:11

=========================

《物种起源》及相关工作编目

1.   中国馆藏1859年第1版《物种起源》之发现

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-225931-816503.html

2014-8-123:23

2.《物种起源》(中文版)：没有最好，只有更好(之一）

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-225931-816525.html

2014-8-203:44

重新发现达尔文与《物种起源》——新译本《物种起源》出版沙龙速记（苗德岁翻译）

http://site.douban.com/yilin/widget/notes/6783442/note/326741253/

苗德岁翻译《物种起源》

http://www.uua.cn/show-76-1070-1.html

《物种起源》，〔英达尔文著，苗德岁译，译林出版社2013年10月第一版

---------------

3. 哈佛大学科学史教授Janet Browne（1950--）和达尔文传记研究

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-225931-816531.html

2014-8-205:12

----------

4.《物种起源》(中文版)：没有最好，只有更好(之二）

著名翻译家叶笃庄（1914--2000）谈他的《物种起源》中译本

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-225931-817388.html

2014-8-6 01:35

5.达尔文与古植物学中的“讨厌之谜”

—并非出自《物种起源》

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-225931-817660.html

2014-8-7 01:11