The poor fellow who runs the "Exchange" column of the Michigan University Chronicle has been having trouble with his mind lately, and in consequence has been led off into some vagaries by that gay deceiver, the Oberlin Review, which we feel sure he will repent of as soon as he comes to himself again. We cannot exactly explain the phenomenon, but there exists, we think, a curious epidemic in some of the Western colleges-a mental malady which seems most frequently to result in the strange delusion on the part of the sufferer that he is being abused by somebody or other, and that the utmost vigor and rigor on his part is called for to repel all attacks. A curious mania for "strong writing" seems always to be co-existent in the college papers of the institutions where this sad disorder flourishes. We cannot affect to explain this fact either. For example there are the two papers we have mentioned-both seemingly smitten with this mysterious affliction.

The Chronicle, barring this one defect, respectable and industrious; the Review ordinarily likewise industrious and respectable; both estimable neighbors and exchanges as one might wish to have, even though both are denied the delusive gifts of brilliancy and vivacity. We took occasion some days ago to reason with the Review upon the subject of its delusion. We only hope our words have carried conviction into the soul of our erring brother. But now in some unaccountable manner we have stirred up the solemn indignation of the Chronicle, and consequently we find ourselves confronted with a most severe and formidable lecture from our Ann Arbor friends upon the sins of sectional prejudice and local conceit. That same native vigor and rude energy of style which we found so remarkable in the case of the Review, is equally striking in the case of the Chronicle: therefore we have been led to connect, after the fashion of cause and effect, this mental malady (so characterized by illusion and belligerency), with the spasmodic intensity of style which pervades these articles.

"The Oberlin Review of March 25th," says the Chronicle, "has well answered the Herald, although, if we remember rightly, Harvard requires a little more than the Review stated." Here was where we first began to suspect the mental condition of the writer in the Chronicle; that our own poor short-comings and those of this great university should be so confounded by the Chronicle is lamentable, to say the least, if not indicative of erratic thoughts. "Harvard," continues the Chronicle, with an evident determination to do its duty in the premises and spare no one,-"Harvard is by far the most deserving of rebuke, as most of the other colleges are not oblivious to the fact that there is a part of the intellectual and cultured class which does not dwell in the East."

"A present Harvard junior once remarked to us in all seriousness, 'that three-fourths of all the smart men in the country came from Harvard.' Shades of Minerva preserve us ere we fall! 'What shall we do to be saved! Perhaps we have been unfortunate, and run across the worst element of Harvard; at any rate, the above represents the tone and spirit of all our Harvard acquaintances. We might go on, but will not, for we have probably fallen into the ridiculous in speaking of the ridiculousness of others."

The fiery energy of this eloquence is thrilling indeed; its terrible invective would be again, we think, suggestive of insanity, were it not that the admirable lucidity, the severe self-restraint of its climax forbids any such idea.

Such is the strange delusion of an esteemed contemporary. If we have ever done aught to foster and encourage it, we repent of our action. How we can ever set our friends in the West to rights in this matter we do not know; but henceforward such will be our only aim and study.