well be that the present edition, maintaining the high standard of excellence of the first, will find an equally large circle of readers.

Fourth Edition. Leading Cases in the Criminal Law. H. WARBURTON. London Stevens & Sons. 1908.

By

This is a very useful collection of cases. There is hardly a branch of the Criminal law on which some information is not to be found except a few very special branches, such as Gaming, Adulteration, and Offences against the Licensing laws. The number of leading cases given is considerable, being nearly 140, and a large number of other cases are referred to in the notes, the law being in all the points we have looked out brought quite up to date. A good many important cases have been decided since the last edition in 1903, but Mr. Warburton has not considered any of them worthy of being a leading case. He has, however, added three cases, namely, R. v. Vreones (Offences against Public Justice); R. v. Wealand (Carnal Knowledge of Children); and R. v. Penfold (Previous Convictions). The book has been somewhat improved in statements of facts and quotations from judgments. The only exception we have noticed from the general accuracy is in the account of R. v. Audley, where it is stated that the Court held that in that case it was not necessary that the indictment should contain an averment that the accused was not a British subject, instead of that the accused was a British subject.

Fourth Edition. Robbins and Maw's Devolution of Real Estate and Administration of Assets. By F. T. MAW. London: Butterworth & Co. 1908.

This work is a development of a treatise written by Mr. L. G. G. Robbins on the Devolution of Real Estate, and the third edition was, in consequence of a suggestion made by that gentleman shortly before his death, enlarged into a work embracing the whole of the law relating to Real and Personal Assets. Considerable alterations and additions have been made in the present edition. For instance, Chapter IV, on the Devolution of Real Estate, is much altered and almost re-written. The recent decision in In re Samson, Robbins v. Alexander, by settling the controversy over the true construction of Hinde Palmer's Act, has facilitated the remodelling of Chapter IX on Payment of Debts. The considerable number of cases decided since the last edition on the Death Duties, has enabled Mr Maw to add to the section of Chapter XVI, which treats on the incidents of

Death Duties and Appropriation of Legacies, and is more fully treated. Many other additions have been made and numerous cases added; all of which contribute to increase the utility of a work which renders great assistance to those who have to consider the varied and difficult duties of a personal representative.

Fifth Edition. The Law of Property. By J. ANDREW STRAHAN, B.A., LL.B., assisted by J. SINCLAIR BAXTER, B.A., LL.B. London: Stevens & Sons. 1908.

Mr. Strahan takes in every sense "a general view" of the Law of Property. He does not treat real and personal property separately, but considers them together, believing that "where they differ. . . . by contrasting them they may be made to illustrate each other." Mr. Strahan has succeeded in arranging his work under a few, and those easily remembered and logical, headings. They are, shortly, as follows:-(1) What interests can subsist in things owned; (2) How these interests can be held; (3) How they can be acquired and disposed of; (4) Rights over things owned by others; (5) Rights not over physical objects; (6) Persons under disabilities as to property. This wide range of subjects is treated as fully as is consistent with the size of the work, and clearness is never sacrificed to conciseness as is sometimes the case in general views. A fair idea of the amount of attention devoted to the various subjects may be taken from noticing the space given to each, For instance, Mortgages has about twenty pages; Wills nearly thirty, and Negotiable Instruments two. An unusual feature for a law book published in England are the references to the law of Ireland which we have found on various points, such as the creation of fee farm grants, various points connected with mortgages, such as tacking and foreclosure: and the remarkable difference between the English and Irish law as to the validity of gifts by will for offering up masses for the souls of the dead, which, though invalid in England, are good in Ireland. For all references to the law of Ireland Mr. Sinclair Baxter, who is Regius Professor at both Queen's College, Belfast, and Dublin University, is responsible. He is also responsible for the appendices on Copyholds, the Irish Land Acts, Irish Land Purchase, Registration in Ireland, and Ships. We have noticed that, in treating of Advowsons, Mr. Strahan seems to have quite overlooked the important and recent Act, namely, the Benefices Act 1898, an unusual slip for so careful and accurate a writer.

The Law of Dogs. By M. R. EMANUEL, M.A., B.C.L. London: Stevens & Sons. 1908.-We recommend this little book to all owners of dogs. They will find the law laid down clearly and sympathetically, without reference to too many cases. We think that Mr. Emanuel might have cited the very recent case of Hooker v. Gray, although the animal in that case was a cat. The book is divided into three parts; the first discusses injury to persons by dogs; the second, injury to dogs by persons; and the third, miscellaneous points. The Appendix, which fills the larger portion of the book, contains the Statutes in point.

The Law of Wills. By J. ANDREW STRAHAN, M.A., LL.B. London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1908. We find here, with some additions, the substance of a short course of lectures Mr. Strahan delivered last Michaelmas Term. He does not profess to give more than a bird's-eye view, but, if we may say so, it is that of a bird with a remarkably keen eye. We do not know of anything more useful in its way to a student, and it is a book not to be despised by the practitioner. It is divided into the following headings: (1) The History of Wills, under which it is pointed out that some important peculiarities in the present law arise from the origin of the testamentary power over land; (2) The Drafting of Wills. Under the "difficulty of drafting these," Mr. Strahan gives three great causes and three minor causes. He points out most clearly the difficulties that may arise from the idiosyncrasies or circumstances of testators, and the best way of guarding against them. We have not noticed any reference to a somewhat common habit of referring in wills to papers containing lists of bequests or requests a practice which may give rise to much trouble. (3) The Execution of Wills; (4) The Proof of Wills; (5) The Operation of Wills; (6) The Construction of Wills. And he concludes with (7) one of the best short accounts of the Death Duties we have

come across.

District Councils. By H. D. CORNISH, B.A. London: Stevens & Sons. 1908. Mr. Cornish's aim has been to complete "a concise guide for the use of members and officers of district councils, and also serve the purpose of a convenient reference for members of the legal profession." The subject is the powers and duties of a district council in its various capacities as a sanitary,

highway, and local government authority. He has followed an alphabetic arrangement, with a certain amount of grouping of kindred subjects under one heading. Perhaps a good illustration of the mode of arrangement will be to give the headings under the letter "A." They are Acquisition of Land; Adoptive Acts; Allotments; Ambulance; Arbitration; Audit of Accounts. There are altogether about 50 headings, varying in length from six lines, which are devoted to Ambulance, to about 30 pages given to Housing, and over 60 to Highways and Streets. The treatment, though concise, does not seem too much so for the purpose of the book. Two subjects Mr. Cornish wisely refrains from treating at length. These are the powers and duties of a district council under the Unemployed Workmen Act 1905, and under the Education Act 1902. As both these Acts will probably be much altered in the near future, time and space devoted to them would be wasted.

Ecclesiastical Discipline. By L. L. YEATMAN. London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1908. Although many text-books have been written on Ecclesiastical law, notably by such authorities as Phillimore and Cripps, there is always room for hand-books adapted to laymen. Mr. Yeatman's book is avowedly compiled for that purpose, and will no doubt prove of great practical utility to the clergy of the Church of England and to laymen interested in the discipline over their pastors. The Church Discipline Act 1840, the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874, and the Clergy Discipline Act 1892, have been dealt with in a simple and direct manner. The scope of these statutes and the procedure, by means of which their provisions are put into force, are clearly indicated. The learned Author has taken a good model of arrangement in following the example of Phillimore's Ecclesiastical Law. Ecclesiastical law is a thorny path, and in many works the personal bias of the writer in favour of one party or the other, whether High Church or Low Church, too often comes into prominence. We are glad to see that Mr. Yeatman has avoided the pitfall of displaying personal predilections, and upon this he is to be greatly congratulated. A law book should deal with law in a strictly impersonal and unbiassed fashion.

The Law relating to Bills of Lading. By J. E. R. STEPHENS. London: The Syren and Shipping, 1908.

The Law relating to Charter-Parties. By J. E. R. STEPHENS. London The Syren and Shipping, 1908.-Now-a-days, business

men wish to know something of the law that affects their particular business, so as to obviate hourly visits to their solicitors. A treatise dealing with the subject in involved and technical language conveys little or nothing to their minds, hence the necessity for hand-books to show them in simple language "how they stand." Mr. Stephens has made a special study of supplying this demand within the realms of Shipping Law. As he says, there are two ways of writing a book. One is merely to state general principles and to refer in a footnote to the authorities, without giving any details of the cases decided. This model is only of use to the reader with legal knowledge and a library of Reports of easy access. The other plan is to state a proposition and then give the facts of the more important cases on the point, and now and then quotations from the judgments. This model, although entailing more labour, is the only one of any practical use to business men. Working, then, on these lines, the learned Author has "tackled" the two abstruse subjects of CharterParties and Bills of Lading, and the result has been the production of two very excellent hand-books of moderate size and price, which are also simple and easily understandable in their phraseology. In his work on Bills of Lading, he has dealt very fully with the Harter Act of America, and in a manner which will help the merchant to avoid the numerous pitfalls yawning at the feet of the unwary in that Act. Indorsement of bills of lading is a subject which very largely affects the Banking community, and for that reason extensive quotations are made from the judgment of Lord Blackburn and Lord Selborne, in the well-known House of Lords case Sewell v. Burdick (10 A. C. 74). The book on Charter-Parties is quite of equal merit to the one on Bills of Lading, the forms in the Appendix being complete and comprehensive. In the Table of Cases, has been inserted the year during which each case was decided, an example which might, with advantage, be more widely followed. In the Index of both books we notice the heading "Words and Phrases," under which is collected words and phrases which have been judicially interpreted; in this way is obviated an annoying search through the Index for the particular one required. We have rarely seen hand-books of superior merit to these, and can only wish for them the same success which apparently has attended the production of The Law relating to Demurrage, and The Law relating to Freight.