Chapter 80 - The Nut Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 80 - The Nut
What does Ishmael compare the sperm whale to at the opening of Chapter 80?
Physiognomically a Sphinx — its face is inscrutable — while to the phrenologist, its brain is "that geometrical circle which it is impossible to square."
How large is the sperm whale's skull?
At least twenty feet in length in a full-grown creature.
How large is the sperm whale's actual brain cavity?
Seldom exceeding ten inches in length and as many in depth — a "mere handful" compared to the enormous skull.
How far is the brain from the whale's apparent forehead?
At least twenty feet, hidden behind "vast outworks."
To what fortification does Ishmael compare the whale's hidden brain?
"The innermost citadel within the amplified fortifications of Quebec."
What do some whalemen believe is the true seat of the whale's intelligence?
The cubic yards of spermaceti in the whale's "sperm magazine," rather than the actual brain.
What famous aphorism does Ishmael deliver about the whale and appearances?
"The whale, like all things that are mighty, wears a false brow to the common world."
Why is phrenology useless on a living sperm whale?
Because the junk and sperm fill in the skull's inclined plane, creating a completely misleading exterior — the true brain cannot be seen or felt from outside.
What does Ishmael notice when viewing the whale's skull from the rear?
It bears a striking resemblance to a human skull, and could be confused with one if scaled down to human size.
What phrenological traits does the whale's skull lack?
Self-esteem and veneration — depressions on the skull summit indicate their absence.
What does Ishmael say the absence of self-esteem and veneration, combined with the whale's power, reveals?
"The truest, though not the most exhilarating conception of what the most exalted potency is."
What is the "German conceit" about vertebrae?
That vertebrae are "absolutely undeveloped skulls" — they resemble miniature skulls strung together like a necklace.
What story does Ishmael tell about vertebrae and a canoe?
A foreign friend showed him the skeleton of a slain foe, whose vertebrae he was inlaying "in a sort of basso-relieve" into the beaked prow of his canoe.
What alternative to skull-based phrenology does Ishmael propose?
A "spinal branch of phrenology" — reading character from the backbone rather than the skull.
What does Ishmael say he would rather feel than your skull?
Your spine: "I would rather feel your spine than your skull, whoever you are."
What does Ishmael say about a thin spine?
"A thin joist of a spine never yet upheld a full and noble soul."
What are the dimensions of the whale's first neck-vertebra spinal canal?
Ten inches across, eight inches in height, triangular in figure with the base downwards.
How does the whale's spinal cord compare to its brain?
For many feet after emerging from the brain cavity, the spinal cord remains "of an undecreasing girth, almost equal to that of the brain."
What does Ishmael identify the whale's hump as?
"The organ of firmness or indomitableness in the Sperm Whale," since it rises over one of the larger vertebrae.
What is phrenology?
A nineteenth-century pseudoscience that attempted to read a person's character, personality, and mental abilities from the shape and bumps of the skull.
What ominous promise closes the chapter?
"And that the great monster is indomitable, you will yet have reason to know" — foreshadowing the crew's confrontation with Moby Dick.