They note in the short, useful prefaces to each excerpt how it figures in the author's work and how the author fits into the genre. Indeed, when one knows of Coleridge's admiration for Bartram, one can see that they make a fine team. His plaited tail brandished high, floats upon the lake. The waters like a cataract descend from his opening jaws. Hence the soothing, love-kindling effect of rural nature. . . .
Deep sky is, of all visual impressions, the nearest akin to a feeling.
The male,'' he writes, ''holds the female in a tight embrace. The other, with her muzzle turned over her shoulder continues very placidly to gnaw what remains of the gentle swain. Another strong contender for the most shockingly graphic account is Washington Irving's description of the slaughter of buffaloes. There are so many fiercely held points of view about nature in this anthology that those who look to validate their own ethics won't be disappointed. It's especially interesting to discover natural history writing as a sort of off-time activity of writers one associates with other genres.