From the Editor

The six articles presented in this issue cover preternatural subjects ranging chronologically from the early medieval period to Victorian England to early twentieth-century Germany, and from "cannibal" saints to Old French lays to medical assessments of alleged occult influences. As ever, Preternature is pleased to present such a wide-ranging variety of topics, one that demonstrates the pervasive nature of the preternatural.

In "Saint Christopher's Canine Hybrid Body and its Cultural Autocannibalism," Jennie Friedrich focuses on the saint as a cynocephalus and how this hybrid nature relates to his function as the patron of travelers. Adducing textual evidence from the eighth century on, Friedrich suggests that Saint Christopher's body provides a material manifestation of both physical and spiritual travel anxieties. Also examining the medieval preternatural, Stefanie Goyette discusses the perception of women's bodies as monstrous in her essay "Fabricating Monstrosity: Secrets and Violence in the Lay of Graelent and Several Old French Fabliaux."

Moving to the later medieval and early modern periods, the next two articles examine demons and witchcraft from a variety of perspectives. As his title suggests, in "Rethinking with Demons: The Campaign against Superstition in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe from a Cognitive Perspective" Andrew Keitt argues pointedly for the application of cognitive science methodology to analyze "superstition," here understood as deviations from theological consensus regarding the nature of the spirit world. Agustin Mendez, in his essay "To Accommodate the Earthly Kingdom to Divine Will: Official and Nonconformist Definitions of Witchcraft in England (ca. 1542–1630)," provides a useful, updated overview contrasting England's first three Witchcraft Acts with contemporaneous demonological treatises, ultimately arguing that the latter works reflected grievances about the official religious policies.

The final two articles relate to how occult beliefs in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were handled in legal contexts. Karl Bell's "'She was full of evil spirits': Occult Influence, Free Will, and Medical Authority in the Old Bailey, circa 1860–1910" analyzes how medical knowledge tried to deal with occult beliefs in the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods in England, particularly when murder cases attributed to supernatural influences were brought to court. Lastly, Heather Wolffram's "The Criminological Construction of Female Mediumship in Early Twentieth-Century Germany" examines the cases of female mediums who were put on trial for fraud, and how criminologists of the time used such cases to construct theories on the nature of female criminality.

We at Preternature also have one major announcement: our longtime book review editor, Richard Raiswell, has recently stepped down for a well-earned break after six years of service. We would like to express our gratitude for all his wonderful work over the years, as he has been with Preternature since its founding. Richard will remain with us as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board. Meanwhile, please welcome our new book review editor, Michelle ("Mikki") Brock, from the Department of History at Washington and Lee University. Mikki specializes in British History, particularly that of Scotland, and her research focuses on demonology and witchcraft. Her most recent book is Satan and the Scots: The Devil in Post-Reformation Scotland, c. 1560–1700 (Routledge, 2016). Please contact Mikki at brockm@wlu.edu for book reviews.

Preternature continues to welcome proposals for special issues. Please direct correspondence to me at felton@classics.umass.edu. We are especially interested in acquiring papers examining the preternatural outside of Europe. For our online submission system and author guidelines, please visit http://www.psupress.org/journals/jnls_submis_Preternature.html. Preternature typically publishes articles within twelve months of acceptance.