{"id":"01KFNR89NHPXBEACA5CGYPDG1Q","cid":"bafkreicxkfc2yfouadjibtle7rizxvvdobwpkclxeuwsmvgzryixinw2iq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":13417,"extracted_at":"2026-01-23T15:41:04.744Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KFNR0Z394A878Y5AQ63MQEM2","start_line":13357,"text":"almost equal parts, which before were naturally divided by an internal\r\nwall of a thick tendinous substance.\r\n\r\n*Quoin is not a Euclidean term. It belongs to the pure nautical\r\nmathematics. I know not that it has been defined before. A quoin is a\r\nsolid which differs from a wedge in having its sharp end formed by the\r\nsteep inclination of one side, instead of the mutual tapering of both\r\nsides.\r\n\r\nThe lower subdivided part, called the junk, is one immense honeycomb of\r\noil, formed by the crossing and recrossing, into ten thousand\r\ninfiltrated cells, of tough elastic white fibres throughout its whole\r\nextent. The upper part, known as the Case, may be regarded as the great\r\nHeidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale. And as that famous great tierce is\r\nmystically carved in front, so the whale’s vast plaited forehead forms\r\ninnumerable strange devices for the emblematical adornment of his\r\nwondrous tun. Moreover, as that of Heidelburgh was always replenished\r\nwith the most excellent of the wines of the Rhenish valleys, so the tun\r\nof the whale contains by far the most precious of all his oily\r\nvintages; namely, the highly-prized spermaceti, in its absolutely pure,\r\nlimpid, and odoriferous state. Nor is this precious substance found\r\nunalloyed in any other part of the creature. Though in life it remains\r\nperfectly fluid, yet, upon exposure to the air, after death, it soon\r\nbegins to concrete; sending forth beautiful crystalline shoots, as when\r\nthe first thin delicate ice is just forming in water. A large whale’s\r\ncase generally yields about five hundred gallons of sperm, though from\r\nunavoidable circumstances, considerable of it is spilled, leaks, and\r\ndribbles away, or is otherwise irrevocably lost in the ticklish\r\nbusiness of securing what you can.\r\n\r\nI know not with what fine and costly material the Heidelburgh Tun was\r\ncoated within, but in superlative richness that coating could not\r\npossibly have compared with the silken pearl-coloured membrane, like\r\nthe lining of a fine pelisse, forming the inner surface of the Sperm\r\nWhale’s case.\r\n\r\nIt will have been seen that the Heidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale\r\nembraces the entire length of the entire top of the head; and since—as\r\nhas been elsewhere set forth—the head embraces one third of the whole\r\nlength of the creature, then setting that length down at eighty feet\r\nfor a good sized whale, you have more than twenty-six feet for the\r\ndepth of the tun, when it is lengthwise hoisted up and down against a\r\nship’s side.\r\n\r\nAs in decapitating the whale, the operator’s instrument is brought\r\nclose to the spot where an entrance is subsequently forced into the\r\nspermaceti magazine; he has, therefore, to be uncommonly heedful, lest\r\na careless, untimely stroke should invade the sanctuary and wastingly\r\nlet out its invaluable contents. It is this decapitated end of the\r\nhead, also, which is at last elevated out of the water, and retained in\r\nthat position by the enormous cutting tackles, whose hempen\r\ncombinations, on one side, make quite a wilderness of ropes in that\r\nquarter.\r\n\r\nThus much being said, attend now, I pray you, to that marvellous and—in\r\nthis particular instance—almost fatal operation whereby the Sperm\r\nWhale’s great Heidelburgh Tun is tapped.\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER 78. Cistern and Buckets.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KFNR84AAHSNQ4BFJ0ASPHB53","peer_label":"76","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KFNR84AAHSNQ4BFJ0ASPHB53","peer_label":"76","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"partOf"},{"peer":"01KFNR81RMVAX2BBMMBW51V97D","peer_label":"Moby Dick; Or, The Whale","peer_type":"novel","predicate":"partOf"},{"peer":"01KFNR0H0Q791Y1SMZWEQ09FGV","peer_label":"Moby Dick","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KFNR89P6QPP6SGCG150FR07V","peer_label":"Chunk 3","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"},{"peer":"01KFNR89MNG3PZ5ZM3EAEBP5JT","peer_label":"Chunk 1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-23T15:41:05.365Z","ts":"2026-01-23T15:41:17.761Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}