ely way, for a course of Lectures for the Lowell Institute, upon
a theme admirably suited to his previous studies, and in which it is
evident his whole mind and heart are bound up. We are glad to know
that it is not until winter after next that this work must be taken
from the anvil.

* * * * *

DR. HOOKER, we learn, has again proceeded to a new and unexplored
region in India, in the prosecution of his important botanical labors.
THE AUTHOR OF THE AMBER WITCH, the Pomeranian pastor, Meinhold,
has been condemned to three months' imprisonment, and a fine of one
hundred thalers, besides costs, for slander against another clergyman
named Stosch, in a communication published in the _New Prussian
Zeitung_. The sentence was rendered more severe than usual in such
cases by the fact that Meinhold, who appears to possess more talent
than temper, had previously been condemned for the same offense
against another party. The _Amber Witch_ is one of the "curiosities of
literature", for in the last German edition the author is obliged to
prove that it is entirely a work of imagination, and not, as almost
all the German critics believed it to be when it appeared, the reprint
of an old chronicle. It was, in fact, written as a trap for the
disciples of Strauss and his school, who had pronounced the Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments to be a collection, of legends, from
historical research, assisted by "internal evidence". Meinhold did
not spare them when they fell into the snare, and made merry with the
historical knowledge and critical acumen that could not detect
the contemporary romancer under the mask of the chronicler of two
centuries ago, while they decided so positively as to the authority of
the most ancient writings in the world. He has been in prison before.

* * * * *

"THE NIGHT SIDE OF NATURE[1]", by Catharine Crowe, so well known as
one of the cleverest of the younger set of literary women in England,
we have already mentioned as in the press of Mr. Redfield; it is
now published, and we commend it as one of the most entertaining and
curious works that has ever appeared on the "wonders of the invisible
world". We quote from the judicious critic of the _Tribune_ the
following paragraphs in regard to it:

[Footnote 1: The Night side of Nature; or, Ghosts and Ghost Seers. By
Catherine Crowe. New York. J.S. Redfield.]

"The author of this work is an accom