Academic, Didactic, Whimsical

The chapter is an interlude where Ishmael shares an exhaustive taxonomy of whales, drawing from various scientific and historical sources to categorize them by size and characteristics.

Ishmael delves into the complex and often confusing field of cetology, the study of whales. He discusses the challenges of classifying the diverse species of whales due to their vast and mystifying nature. Quoting noted figures from history and literature, he emphasizes the lack of precise knowledge about whales, despite the abundance of writing on the subject. Attempting a rudimentary classification, Ishmael sorts whales into books and chapters based on size, ranging from the 'folio' (the largest whales) to 'duodecimo' (the smallest). Celebrated whales like the sperm whale and less known species such as the 'huzza porpoise' are described with a mix of fact and Ishmael's whimsical conjecture. The chapter ends with an acknowledgment of the system's incompleteness and the infinite possibility of future discoveries.