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Cetology

           Heis,withoutdoubt,thelargestinhabitantoftheglobe;themostformidableofallwhalestoencounter;themostmajesticinaspect;andlastly,byfarthemostvaluableincommerce;hebeingtheonlycreaturefromwhichthatvaluablesubstance,spermaceti,isobtained.Allhispeculiaritieswill,inmanyotherplaces,beenlargedupon.ItischieflywithhisnamethatInowhavetodo.Philologicallyconsidered,itisabsurd.Somecenturiesago,whenthespermwhalewasalmostwhollyunknowninhisownproperindividuality,andwhenhisoilwasonlyaccidentallyobtainedfromthestrandedfish;inthosedaysspermaceti,itwouldseem,waspopularlysupposedtobederivedfromacreatureidenticalwiththeonethenknowninEnglandastheGreenlandorRightWhale.Itwastheideaalso,thatthissamespermacetiwasthatquickeninghumoroftheGreenlandWhalewhichthefirstsyllableofthewordliterallyexpresses.Inthosetimes,also,spermacetiwasexceedinglyscarce,notbeingusedforlight,butonlyasanointmentandmedicament.Itwasonlytobehadfromthedruggistsasyounowadaysbuyanounceofrhubarb.When,asIopine,inthecourseoftime,thetruenatureofspermacetibecameknown,itsoriginalnamewasstillretainedbythedealers;nodoubttoenhanceitsvaluebyanotionsostrangelysignificantofitsscarcity.Andsotheappellationmustatlasthavecometobebestoweduponthewhalefromwhichthisspermacetiwasreallyderived.

           BOOKI.(Folio),CHAPTERII.(RightWhale).Inonerespectthisisthemostvenerableoftheleviathans,beingtheonefirstregularlyhuntedbyman.Ityieldsthearticlecommonlyknownaswhaleboneorbaleen;andtheoilspeciallyknownas"whaleoil,"aninferiorarticleincommerce.Amongthefishermen,heisindiscriminatelydesignatedbyallthefollowingtitles:TheWhale;theGreenlandWhale;theBlackWhale;theGreatWhale;theTrueWhale;theRightWhale.ThereisadealofobscurityconcerningtheIdentityofthespeciesthusmultitudinouslybaptized.

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