I would give a look at Moby-Dick, at the beginning of which
     Melville offers dozens of quotations about whales that he passes
     off as the research of a "sub-sub-librarian." Of course
     throughout Moby_Dick Melville himself writes many memorable
     things about whales, and not just Sperm Whales, but what he calls
     the Octavio, Quarto, and Folio members of the species. There is a
     concordat of Moby-Dick, I'm fairly sure, which can be found at
     any good university library. A concordat cross references
     passages by content.

     Of course, you aren't "fishing" for quotes, but "mammaling" for
     them. But, that's a much less evocative term.

     Eric Siegel
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