Here, now, are two great whales, laying their heads together;
let us join them, and lay together our own. Of the grand order
of folio leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale are by
far the most noteworthy. They are the only whales regularly
hunted by man. To the Nantucketer, they present the two extremes
of all the known varieties of the whale. As the external
difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; and
as a head of each is this moment hanging from the Pequod's side;
and as we may freely go from one to the other, by merely
stepping across the deck:--where, I should like to know, will
you obtain a better chance to study practical cetology than
here? In the first place, you are struck by the general contrast
between these heads. Both are massive enough in all conscience;
but there is a certain mathematical symmetry in the Sperm
Whale's which the Right Whale's sadly lacks. There is more
character in the Sperm Whale's head. As you behold it, you
involuntarily yield the immense superio