The Moby-Dick Bible
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Symbolism › Spinal Canal

Spinal Canal

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

His cranial cavity is continuous with the first neck-vertebra; and in that vertebra the bottom of the spinal canal will measure ten inches across, being eight in height, and of a triangular figure with the base downwards. As it passes through the remaining vertebræ the canal tapers in size, but for a considerable distance remains of large capacity. Now, of course, this canal is filled with much the same strangely fibrous substance—the spinal cord—as the brain; and directly communicates with the brain.

Chapter 80, The Nut · verse 9

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