moby update

[phosfate]

Continuing his discourse on property law and dead whales, Ishmael tells us about abandoned rotting whale carcasses which have died, apparently, of natural causes. Some are valuable. Some are not.

Mr Stubb cons a French whaler out of a valuable, albeit extremely stinky, rotting whale carcass. It's just chock-full of ambergris*. Ambergris is, apparently, the 'sperm' in 'sperm whale.'

Then there's this whole chapter where Ishamel describes the...oh God...the delights of 'squeezing sperm.' He really likes squeezing sperm. He likes the smell. He's in his happy place.


*Oh, look it up yourself.

Comments

Re:

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

You fergot the bit about their being squid beaks in it. Apparently the stuff forms around the indigestible and pointy squid beaks that are left in the whale's gut after the squids are digested. It's like an oyster sending out nacre to protect its soft bits from a sharp piece of sand.

Perfume & pearls, how romantic it all is.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

Perfume & pearls, how romantic it all is.

Ah, romance!

Heh, heh, heh.