The Natural History of the Sperm Whale. to Which Is Added, a Sketch of a South-Sea Whaling Voyage

The Natural History of the Sperm Whale. to Which Is Added, a Sketch of a South-Sea Whaling Voyage

Author: Thomas Beale

Publisher: Theclassics.Us

Published: 2013-09

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 9781230327921

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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1839 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE SPERM WHALE. It will be seen, in the following compilation of the anatomy and physiology of the sperm whale, which I have gleaned from the various naturalists who have from time to time written upon these interesting subjects, that I have largely availed myself of the inimitable paper, originally presented to the Royal Society by the great John Hunter, which treats of the structure and economy of whales. I have thought proper to reprint nearly the whole of this paper, because of the exceedingly interesting nature of its contents, --not because it does not treat solely of the anatomy of the sperm whale, but because it contains passages so highly original and profound, not only of whales in general, and of the sperm whale in particular, that to have left this article without it, a mere barren chapter would have presented itself, wholly without interest. For although the structural and functional developements of several kinds of whales are considered in that learned paper, the peculiarities of which are exposed with amazing judgment by our great naturalist, still the reader will observe that there is a strong analogy among them in the internal arrangement of their organs; as in the stomach, liver, parts of generation in both sexes, and also in the kidney, lungs, and brain; and where they differ in organic development, the gifted author beautifully describes the alteration and its object. In fact, as far as I have examined, and I believe that I have perused every writer of note on these subjects, there is not a paper, or any work on "record, equal in any degree to that which was produced by Hunter; for although much, very much, remains to be known of the structure and economy of the sperm and other...


Gone A-whaling

Gone A-whaling

Author: Jim Murphy

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780395698471

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Surveys the history of the whaling industry from its earliest days to the present, focusing on the young boys who managed to sign on for whaling voyages.


Melville’s Anatomies

Melville’s Anatomies

Author: Samuel Otter

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1999-03-05

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 9780520918016

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In fascinating new contextual readings of four of Herman Melville's novels—Typee, White-Jacket, Moby-Dick, and Pierre—Samuel Otter delves into Melville's exorbitant prose to show how he anatomizes ideology, making it palpable and strange. Otter portrays Melville as deeply concerned with issues of race, the body, gender, sentiment, and national identity. He articulates a range of contemporary texts (narratives of travelers, seamen, and slaves; racial and aesthetic treatises; fiction; poetry; and essays) in order to flesh out Melville's discursive world. Otter presents Melville's works as "inside narratives" offering material analyses of consciousness. Chapters center on the tattooed faces in Typee, the flogged bodies in White-Jacket, the scrutinized heads in Moby-Dick, and the desiring eyes and eloquent, constricted hearts of Pierre. Otter shows how Melville's books tell of the epic quest to know the secrets of the human body. Rather than dismiss contemporary beliefs about race, self, and nation, Melville inhabits them, acknowledging their appeal and examining their sway. Meticulously researched and brilliantly argued, this groundbreaking study links Melville's words to his world and presses the relations between discourse and ideology. It will deeply influence all future studies of Melville and his work.