343 
THE WHITE WHALE 
water, then I opine we should be furnished with the reason why his 
sense of smell seems obliterated in him ; for the only thing about 
him that at all answers to his nose is that identical spout-hole; and 
being so clogged with two elements, it could not be expected to have 
the J>ower of smelling. But owing to the mystery of the spout — 
whether it be water or whether it be vapour — no absolute cer- 
tainty can as yet be arrived at on this head. Sure it is, neverthe- 
less, that the Sperm Whale has no proper olfactories. But what 
does he want of them ? No roses, no violets, no Cologne-water in the 
sea. 
Furthermore, as his windpipe solely opens into the tube of his 
spouting canal, and as that long canal — like the Grand Erie Canal — 
is furnished with a sort of locks (that open and shut) for the down- 
ward retention of air or the upward exclusion of water, therefore the 
whale has no voice; unless you insult him by saying, that when he 
so strangely rumbles, he talks through his nose. But then again 
what has the whale to say ? Seldom have I known any profound being 
that had anything to say to this world, unless forced to stammer out 
something by way of getting a living. Oh! happy that the world is 
such an excellent listener! 
Now, the spouting canal of the Sperm Whale, chiefly intended as 
it is for the conveyance of air, and for several feet laid along, hor- 
izontally, just beneath the upper surface of his head, and a little 
to one side ; this curious canal is very much like a gas-pipe laid down 
in a city on one side of a street. But the question returns whether 
this gas-pipe is also a water-pipe; in other words, whether the spout 
of the Sperm Whale’s is the mere vapour of the exhaled breath, or 
whether that exhaled breath is mixed with water taken in at the 
mouth, and discharged through the spiracle. It is certain that the 
mouth indirectly communicates with the spouting canal; but it can- 
not be proved that this is for the purpose of discharging water 
through the spiracle. Because the greatest necessity for so doing 
would seem to be, when in feeding he accidentally takes in water. 
But the Sperm Whale’s food is far beneath the surface, and there 
he cannot spout even if he would. Besides, if you regard him 
very closely, and time him with your watch, you will find that 
