Latin In APLANG

In APLANG at the moment, we are reading the book Pilgrim At Tinker Creek. The book is based off the transcendentalism movements ideals, which believed that the appreciation of nature could bring about a state of 'pureness' or happiness in the form of 'innocence'. The book can at times be very confusing, as the author, Annie Dillard, references many authors and books I have never heard of. However, the other day while I was reading a chapter that was discussing time and how it relates to nature, Dillard quotes Pliny. It reads "The general rule in nature is that live things are soft within and rigid without...well expressed...by Pliny, who writes of nature, 'To all the rest, given she hath sufficient shells, cods, hard hides, pricks...man alone, poor wretch, she haith laid all naked upon the bare earth"(PTK 98)Though it did not say if it was Pliny the Elder or Pliny the younger, because of Latin class, I had good background information on both of them. Pliny the younger was, of course, lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny the elder I knew was also prominent in political society as a commander in the navy, raised Pliny the younger, and died at Pompeii. Pliny the Younger's account of his uncle's death is very important in our understanding of the event. Something I learned through research was Pliny the elder was a naturalist and natural philosopher. Thus, I believe that this quote is from Pliny the elder, as from our last reading on his hunt we learned that Pliny the younger is not very much a nature lover. However, Pliny the younger was the one that published some of his uncle's works and talked about Pliny the elder's book, the Naturalis Historia, a lot in his letters. Recognizing the name Pliny gave me an appreciation for what was being said in the chapter, which was discussing time. Nature has always spawned questions about our place in the universe and why we are the way we are, since Pliny's time, since the transcendentalist movement, since the 70s (when this book was written), and now. How we are and our place in time is so particular yet so random, considering that other parts of nature have so many cool things for protection. Why is this so? Well, I am hoping by the end of this book I figure that out since that is the main purpose of the author. Also, although I didn't entirely understand the chapter, Pliny's quote gave me some confidence because there was at least one author referenced that I do know.  -Katie