It's too sad and funny to go with the rattling of billiard balls.

这事悲伤而又滑稽，和台球卡塔卡塔的声音合不上拍。

During the 19th century, the demand for ivory billiard balls decimated elephant populations, forcing chemists to look for a synthetic alternative.

19 世纪时期，象牙制的台球让大象数量锐减，迫使化学家寻找合成替代品。

Hume used two billiard balls for his example.

休谟以两个台球为例。

For centuries, billiard balls were made of ivory from elephant tusks.

几个世纪以来，台球都是用象牙制成的象牙制成的。

Billiard balls were getting more expensive, elephants were getting more rare.

台球越来越贵， 大象越来越稀有。

All night long, he had dreamt of those two billiard balls.

整整一夜，他都梦见了那两个台球。

The properties were extremely similar to ivory billiard balls.

性质与象牙台球极为相似。

A full set of 16 billiard balls would require at least one, possibly two, full elephants worth of ivory.

一整套 16 个台球需要至少一个， 可能是两个， 价值一整头大象的象牙。

The molecules can be thought of as little billiard balls continually colliding with each other and bouncing off the walls of the box.

这些分子可以被认为是不断相互碰撞并从盒子壁上弹起的小台球。

But when excessive hunting caused elephant populations to decline in the 19th century, billiard balls makers began to look for alternatives, offering huge rewards.

但是，当 19 世纪过度狩猎导致大象数量下降时，台球制造商开始寻找替代品， 并提供了丰厚的回报。

But he did patent the technique, using it to create billiard balls, piano keys and even teeth, becoming pretty dang wealthy in the process.

但他确实为这项技术申请了专利，用它来制造台球、钢琴键甚至牙齿，在这个过程中变得非常富有。