occasionally lack the unconscious, spontaneous impulse of the pure naturalist. Mr. Burroughs, however, has the sharp eyes and ears of a modern trained observer; his nature is cheery and gregarious, and, with birds and animals, no less than with men, he is an intuitive, kindly comrade. With the literary ease and poetic memory which are his, his volumes form the most popular, perhaps the most suggestive, nature-pictures for reading under the summer trees or by the winter fireplace. All these later writers on nature, and their number is many, including Mr. Gibson, Mr. Torrey, Dr. Abbott, Mr. Mabie, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Parsons, and many others, are familiar with the general facts and classifications in natural history, many of which have been formulated since Thoreau's day. He lived at the inception of the dawn for scientific nature-study in America. To this, indeed, he gave the most potent influence. The later authors have gained in concentration and penetration; they lack the original surmises and the unique reflections of Thoreau's style. They seldom emphasize, as he did, the subjective effect and the symbolic message. In short, they are more truly naturalists and essayists, less poets and mystics. All however, from Thoreau to Chapman, teach the primal lesson from nature,—the need of simplification and clarification of life be-
