Chapter 105 - Does the Whale's Magnitude Diminish? - Will He Perish? Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 105 - Does the Whale's Magnitude Diminish? - Will He Perish?
According to fossil evidence, are modern whales larger or smaller than their Tertiary-period ancestors?
Larger. The fossils from the Tertiary system show whales smaller than modern species, and later Tertiary specimens exceed earlier ones in size.
How long was the largest pre-Adamite whale skeleton (the Alabama specimen)?
Less than seventy feet in length.
How long is the skeleton of a large modern whale, according to the tape-measure?
Seventy-two feet.
What did Pliny claim about the size of ancient whales?
That they "embraced acres of living bulk."
What absurd length did Aldrovandus attribute to whales?
Eight hundred feet, which Ishmael mockingly calls "Rope Walks and Thames Tunnels of Whales."
What length did Lacepede assign to the Right Whale in his 1825 history?
One hundred metres (three hundred and twenty-eight feet).
Why does Ishmael reject the ancient claims of enormous whales?
No experienced whaleman would believe them. He argues that Egyptian mummies and ancient cattle are no bigger than their modern counterparts, so the whale should not have degenerated either.
What animal does Ishmael compare to whales when discussing extinction?
The American buffalo, whose vast herds had been exterminated from the prairies of Illinois and Missouri within a single lifetime.
How many buffalo could forty mounted hunters kill in forty-eight months, versus how many whales could forty men in a ship take?
Forty thousand buffalo versus only forty whales.
Why does Ishmael say the buffalo analogy does not apply to whales?
Because whale hunting is vastly less efficient than buffalo hunting on horseback, making mass extermination impractical.
What change in whale behavior does Ishmael note regarding their social grouping?
Whales that once swam in small, scattered pods have aggregated into vast but widely separated, infrequent armies (large herds).
What are the two "firm fortresses" that Ishmael says will forever protect whale-bone whales?
The polar seas (Arctic and Antarctic), where ice barriers prevent human pursuit.
To what European people does Ishmael compare the whales retreating to polar seas?
The Swiss, who retreat to their mountains when their valleys are invaded.
How many whale-bone whales does Ishmael say are killed annually on the northwest coast by Americans alone?
Not less than 13,000.
What animal does Ishmael use to argue that hunted species can survive for millennia?
The elephant, hunted for thousands of years by Semiramis, Porus, Hannibal, and successive monarchs, yet still surviving in great numbers.
How does Ishmael estimate the whale's longevity?
He presumes whales attain the age of a century or more, meaning several distinct adult generations are contemporary at any given time.
What famous declaration closes Chapter 105?
"We account the whale immortal in his species, however perishable in his individuality."
What historical landmarks does Ishmael say the whale once swam over?
The sites of the Tuileries, Windsor Castle, and the Kremlin.
What biblical event does Ishmael reference to emphasize the whale's eternal nature?
Noah's Flood. Ishmael says the whale "despised Noah's Ark" and would survive any future deluge.
What does the word "recondite" mean as used in the phrase "the more recondite Nantucketers"?
Obscure or dealing with abstruse subject matter; here it means the more intellectually curious or deeply thinking whalemen.
What does "moot point" mean as Ishmael uses it regarding whale extinction?
A debatable or unsettled question, open to argument.
In hindsight, why was Ishmael wrong about whale extinction?
Industrial whaling in the 19th-20th centuries (steam ships, exploding harpoons, factory ships) made hunting vastly more efficient, driving several species to near extinction.