LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IN 1862. 



L. Flint published early in the year a " Manual 

 of Agriculture for the School, the Farm, and 

 the Fireside," intended to introduce the ele- 

 mentary principles of scientific agriculture into 

 the course of common school instruction. Mr. 

 Edward Parrish of Philadelphia introduced a 

 new art to the attention of the curious in a 

 little volume entitled " The Phantom Bouquet ; 

 a Treatise on the Art of Skeletonizing Leaves 

 and Seed Vessels." 



The larger part of the new medical works 

 of the year have a bearing on surgery, and es- 

 pecially military surgery; on this subject trea- 

 tises have been published or former treatises 

 revised, by some of the ablest members of the 

 profession, such as Drs. Gray, Gross, Guthrie, 

 Longmore, Powers, and Sargent. Of treatises 

 on other medical topics, may be named Dr. 

 Barclay's " Manual of Medical Diagnosis ; " Dr. 

 J. Byrnes's " Researches on Pelvic Hamiato- 

 cete ;" Dr. J. Frick's " Physical Manipulations," 

 translated by Dr. J. D. Eaton ; Dr. John O'- 

 Reilly's elaborate treatise on the " Placenta," 

 &G. ; Dr. Henry W. Williams' "Practical 

 Guide to the Study of Diseases of the Eye ; " 

 Dr. George H. Smith's monograph on "The 

 Insertion of the Capsular Ligament of the Hip 

 Joint," and Dr. 0. H. Cleaveland's " Causes 

 and Cure of Diseases of the Feet." In hygiene, 

 Dr. Dio Lewis has published a most admirable 

 system of " New Gymnastics for Men, "Women, 

 and Children ; " the venerable R. D. Mussey, 

 M.D.,L.L.D., a capital essay entitled "Health; 

 its Friends and its Foes ; " Mr. A. J. Davis, 

 " The Harbinger of Health ; " and Dr. W. W. 

 Hall, a ninth volume of his spicy and eminent- 

 ly readable " Journal of Health." Dr. O. W. 

 Holmes, whose brilliant position in literature 

 does not diminish his interest in his profession, 

 published during the year two volumes as con- 

 tributions to medical literature, viz., " Border 

 Lines of Knowledge in some Provinces of Med- 

 ical Science," and " Currents and Counter- 

 Currents in Medical Science, &c." The most 

 valuable of the reprints were the two admira- 

 ble summaries of medical and surgical knowl- 

 edge, Braithwaite's Retrospect, and Ranking's 

 Half- Yearly Abstract of the Medical Sciences. 

 The number of books of travel, or treatises on 

 the habits and manners of foreign countries, 

 have been very few. Rev. "W. H. Bidwell, edi- 

 tor of the Eclectic Magazine, has compiled a 

 volume of biographical sketches, entitled " Im- 

 perial Courts of France, England, Russia, Prus- 

 sia, &c.," with 42 fine steel portraits, as a pres- 

 entation volume. A lively little volume of 

 incidents of travel in the islands of the south- 

 ern seas, appeared under the title of " Life and 

 Adventures in the South Pacific, by a Roving 

 Printer." Messrs. Harper published a " Hand- 

 book for Travellers in Europe and the East," 

 by W. P. Fetridge, and the publishers of Rev. 

 T. Starr King's charming " White Hills, their 

 . Legends, Landscape, and Poetry," issued a 

 cheaper edition of it. Two books by English 

 writers on portions of this country, were re- 



printed here almost simultaneously with their 

 appearance in England, viz., Capt. R. F. Bur- 

 ton's " City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky 

 Mountains to California," and Mr. Anthony 

 Trollope's " North America." The lively work 

 of the Princess Belgiojoso on " Oriental Harems 

 and Scenery," was also translated from the 

 French and republished here. 



In the way of essays and lighter literature, 

 not fictitious, a number of works of great merit 

 appeared ; among these was a new volume by 

 Timothy Titcomb (Dr. J. G. Holland), in his 

 admirable and peculiar vein, entitled " Lessons 

 in Life, a Series of Familiar Essays ; " a volume 

 characterized by remarkably vigorous and pow- 

 erful thought and vivid powers of description, 

 entitled " Country Living and Country Think- 

 ing," by Gail Hamilton (Miss A. Dodge) ; a col- 

 lection of papers mostly communicated to the 

 New York Ledger, by Henry Ward Beecher, 

 under the title of " Eyes and Ears ; " a vigor- 

 ous essay on the times, by Rev. Marcus D. 

 Conway, entitled " The Golden Hour ; " a 

 narrative of the doings of Maj.-Gen. Fremont's 

 famous body-guard, from the pen of Mrs. Fre- 

 mont, under the title of " The Story of the 

 Guard ; a Chronicle of the War ; " an address 

 with notes, &c., by John S. Hart, LL.D., en- 

 titled "Mistakes of Educated Men;" a col- 

 lection of essays, addresses, &c., of much 

 merit, on the " Future of Africa," by Rev. 

 Alex. Cromwell, a man of color, and professor 

 in the Liberia College ; a new volume of mis- 

 cellaneous sketches and letters, by Bayard 

 Taylor, entitled ' : Home and Abroad ; a Sketch 

 Book of Life, Scenery, and Men, 2d series ; " 

 a series of humorous and satirical letters on 

 the war, displaying keen wit and trenchant 

 powers of sarcasm, entitled " The Orpheus C. 

 Kerr (Office Seeker) Papers." 



Among the essays and narratives more di- 

 rectly pertaining to the war were an essay by 

 Mr. William Whiting, on " The War Powers 

 of the President, &c. ; " an able exposi- 

 tion, by Mr. Henry T. Tuckerman, of " The 

 Rebellion, its latent causes and true signifi- 

 cance ; " an essay of remarkable ability by Mr. 

 Alfred Stille, of Philadelphia, entitled " Must 

 the War go on ; " narratives of adventures as 

 prisoners of war, by Hon. Alfred Ely, M. C. 

 from New York, and Lieut. William C. Harris ; 

 a "Narrative of the Campaign of the First 

 Rhode Island Regiment in the spring and sum- 

 mer of 1861," by Rev. Augustus Woodbury; 

 and three or four pamphlet reports of speeches 

 by Mr. George Francis Train, in England, rela- 

 tive to the war and kindred topics. In addi- 

 tion to these, there were a few essays on sub- 

 jects not readily classified, as, for instance, the 

 " Ethical and Physiological, chiefly relative to 

 subjects of popular interest," of Mr. A. H. 

 Dana; Mr. Eli Bowen's treatise on the " Crea- 

 tion of the Earth " ; " Record of an Obscure 

 Man," and "Climbing the Mountains," both by 

 anonymous authors. The only reprints worthy 

 of special notice were "The Book Hunter," by 



