The Moby-Dick Bible
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Literary Motifs › Whalebone Whales

Whalebone Whales

1 passage in the novel carry this mark, in the order they appear.

From having the baleen in his mouth, the Fin-Back is sometimes included with the right whale, among a theoretic species denominated Whalebone whales, that is, whales with baleen. Of these so called Whalebone whales, there would seem to be several varieties, most of which, however, are little known. Broad-nosed whales and beaked whales; pike-headed whales; bunched whales; under-jawed whales and rostrated whales, are the fishermen’s names for a few sorts.

Chapter 32, Cetology · verse 36

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