Later had come the disappointing realization that each Whipple had a complete nose at all times for his very own; that the phrase by which he had been misled denoted merely the possession of a certain build of nose by Whipples.
But even this simple phenomenon offered some distraction from his present miseries.

He could glance along the line of Whipple noses and observe that they were, indeed, of a markedly similar pattern.

It was, as one might say, a standardized nose, raised by careful selection through past generations of Whipples to the highest point of efficiency; for ages yet to come the demands of environment, howsoever capricious, would probably dictate no change in its structural details.

It sufficed.
It was, moreover, a nose of good lines, according to conventional canons.

It was shapely, and from its high bridge jutted forward with rather a noble sweep of line to the thin, curved nostrils.