Philosophical, Reverential, Inquisitive

Ishmael muses on the physiognomy and phrenology of the sperm whale, considering the grandeur of its head and face despite lacking distinguishable features like a human's.

Ishmael embarks on a thoughtful examination of the sperm whale's head, drawing parallels and contrasts with the human face and other animals. He explains that physiognomy and phrenology, which study facial features and head shapes respectively, have not been applied to the sperm whale. Ishmael notes the whale's lack of a prominent nose changes its countenance. Nonetheless, the whale's massive scale turns that lack into a feature of majesty and awe, sparing it the indignity of a trivialized appearance. Ishmael concludes that in the grand, featureless, and mysterious expanse of the whale's brow, one finds a mute declaration of the whale's inherent nobility and power, equating it to the silent grandeur of the most imposing human or animal brows.