THE WHITE WHALE 303 
toiled on, Laplandish speculations were bandied among them, concern- 
ing all these passing things. 
•CHAPTER LXXIII 
THE SPERM WHAXe’s HEAD CONTRASTED VIEW 
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 ex- 
ternal 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 step- 
ping 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 im- 
mense superiority to him, in point of pervading dignity. In the 
present instance, too, this dignity is heightened by the pepper and 
salt colour of his head at the summit, giving token of advance age 
and large experience. In short, he is what the fishermen technically 
call a “grey-headed whale.” 
Let us now note what is least dissimilar in these heads — namely, the 
two most important organs, the eye and the ear. Ear back on the side 
of the head, and low down, near the angle of either whale’s jaw, if 
you narrowly search, you will at least see a lashless eye, which you 
would fancy to be a young colt’s eye; so out of all proportion is it 
to the magnitude of the head. 
Now, from this peculiar sideway position of the whale’s eyes, it 
