Chapter 104 - The Fossil Whale Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

What geological period do all known fossil whales belong to, according to Ishmael?

• Jurassic period
• Cretaceous period
• Tertiary period
• Cambrian period

What was the skeleton found on Judge Creagh's plantation initially identified as?

• A whale
• A dinosaur
• A huge reptile
• A fallen angel

Who renamed Basilosaurus to Zeuglodon?

• Cuvier
• Judge Creagh
• Owen
• John Leo

True or False: Ishmael claims his qualifications as a geologist include having been a stone-mason and a digger of ditches.

True or False: Fossil whale bones were discovered in the Rue Dauphine in Paris.

What does Ishmael say he needs to write about the whale?

• A library of reference books
• A condor's quill and Vesuvius' crater for an inkstand
• A team of scholars
• A decade of study

Where was a sculpted planisphere showing a whale among celestial figures discovered?

• The British Museum
• The temple of Denderah in Egypt
• The Louvre in Paris
• The docks of Antwerp

What does "antediluvian" mean as used in this chapter?

• Related to anatomy
• Existing before the biblical Flood
• Extremely large
• Related to fossil hunting

What is a "chirography"?

• A type of fossil
• A surgical instrument
• Handwriting
• A musical composition

True or False: The slaves near Judge Creagh's plantation believed the fossil bones belonged to one of the fallen angels.

According to the John Leo passage, what remarkable feature does the whale-bone temple possess?

• A whale skull used as a doorway
• A whale rib so large a man on a camel cannot reach the top of its arch
• Whale teeth arranged in a circle
• A whale jawbone used as a bridge

What famous declaration does Ishmael make about writing in this chapter?

• "Call me Ishmael."
• "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme."
• "The whale is unknowable."
• "All knowledge is but remembrance."

What does "osseous" mean?

• Ancient
• Consisting of bone
• Oceanic
• Enormous

What dictionary does Ishmael say he uses when writing about the whale?

• Webster's Dictionary
• A huge quarto edition of Johnson
• The Oxford English Dictionary
• An encyclopedia of natural history