- Year Published: 1851 - Language: English - Country of Origin:
United States of America - Source: Melville H. (1851). Moby
Dick.London, England: Richard Bently. - Flesch–Kincaid Level:
9.8 - Word Count: 910 Melville, H. (1851). Chapter 70: The
Sphynx. Moby Dick (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved May 18, 2013, from
Melville, Herman. "Chapter 70: The Sphynx." Moby Dick. Lit2Go
Edition. 1851. Web. <>. May 18, 2013. Herman Melville, "Chapter
70: The Sphynx," Moby Dick, Lit2Go Edition, (1851), accessed May
18, 2013,. It should not have been omitted that previous to
completely stripping the body of the leviathan, he was beheaded.
Now, the beheading of the Sperm Whale is a scientific anatomical
feat, upon which experienced whale surgeons very much pride
themselves: and not without reason. Consider that the whale has
nothing that can properly be called a neck; on the contrary,
where his head and body seem to join, there, in that very place,
is the thickest part of him. Remember, also, that the surgeon
must operate from abo