Both Uses of
abortion
in
Moby Dick
- The Albino is as well made as other men—has no substantive deformity—and yet this mere aspect of all-pervading whiteness makes him more strangely hideous than the ugliest abortion.†
Chpt 40-42abortion = intentionally ending a pregnancy
- Perhaps he got it as his scientific predecessor in the same field, Desmarest, got one of his authentic abortions; that is, from a Chinese drawing.†
Chpt 55-57 *abortions = ending of pregnancies
Definition:
intentional ending of pregnancy with medical assistance by removing the fetus or embryo from the body before it is able to survive
A spontaneous abortion (more commonly called a miscarriage) is an abortion that happens without medical assistance or intent