Not P but Moby-Dick (52)

[David Morris]

Whatever the substance is, it’s NOT mica.  It  RESEMBLES ( in its
translucency) mica.

I’m sure it is a real thing. Maybe you should look up the ACTUAL PROCESS of
whale-oil manufacturing from back then

On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 1:38 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm actually having second thoughts about this one, since apparently you
> can indeed have very thin and transparent flakes or sheets of mica. It's
> not clear what the other isinglass substance normally looks like.
>
>
> On Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 12:24 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > turns out mica can be minute scales with a layered structure...
> >
> > a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure, found as minute scales
> > in granite and other rocks, or as crystals. It is used as a thermal or
> > electrical insulator.
> >
> > On Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 12:21 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> ⬇️ They translated it to THIS? ⬇️
> >>
> >> “you may scrape off with your hand [from the body of a dead whale] an
> >> infinitely thin, transparent substance, somewhat resembling the thinnest
> >> shreds of [MICA]”
> >>
> >> Mica??? From the body of a dead whale???
> >>
> >> On Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 12:14 PM Mike Jing <
> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> By the way, both the Norton Critical Edition and Melville Electronic
> >>> Library took it to be mica.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 9:41 AM Mike Jing <
> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
> >>> >
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > OK. All five previous translations I have at hand took the second
> one,
> >>> so
> >>> > I thought I'd ask just to be sure. Thanks, Mark.
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > On Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 6:01 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
> >>> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> >> definition 1....
> >>> >>
> >>> >> On Sat, Dec 9, 2023 at 11:12 PM Mike Jing <
> >>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> >>> >> wrote:
> >>> >>
> >>> >>> From Chapter 68:
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> True, from the unmarred dead body of the whale, you may scrape off
> >>> with
> >>> >>> your hand an infinitely thin, transparent substance, somewhat
> >>> resembling
> >>> >>> the thinnest shreds of isinglass, only it is almost as flexible and
> >>> soft
> >>> >>> as
> >>> >>> satin; that is, previous to being dried, when it not only contracts
> >>> and
> >>> >>> thickens, but becomes rather hard and brittle.
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> What does "isinglass" refer to here?
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> 1. A firm whitish semitransparent substance (being a comparatively
> >>> pure
> >>> >>> form of gelatin) obtained from the sounds or air-bladders of some
> >>> >>> freshwater fishes, esp. the sturgeon; used in cookery for making
> >>> jellies,
> >>> >>> etc., also for clarifying liquors, in the manufacture of glue, and
> >>> for
> >>> >>> other purposes. Also extended to similar substances made from
> hides,
> >>> >>> hoofs,
> >>> >>> etc.
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> 2. A name given to mica, from its resembling in appearance some
> >>> kinds of
> >>> >>> isinglass.
> >>> >>> --
> >>> >>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>
> >>> --
> >>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >>>
> >>
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>