introduced, together with a vivid description of the various sects and the constituent elements which go to make up Muhammadan law. In the text are treated the main points and principles of law, all of which are well annotated and lucidly illustrated. The Appendices are four in number—(a) The Code of Criminal Procedure; (b) Family Settlements by way of Wakf; (c) The Statutory law of preemption in the Punjab and Oudh; (d) The Koranic basis of Anglo-Muhammadan law. We notice that many words are spelt in a manner unfamiliar to us, and conclude that the spelling one is accustomed to is the Anglicised form of the same words. The treatise is evidently intended for students of and practitioners in Indian law, and owing to the steady increase in their numbers, the book will no doubt appeal to a larger circle of readers than has been the case with former editions.

Fourth Edition. The Law of Agency. By WILLIAM BOWSTEAD. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

1909.

That this work on Agency is popular is amply proved by the fact that, although the third edition was published in 1907, a fourth has now been found necessary. Two important cases-Oppenheimer v. Frazer (L. R. [1907], 2 K. B. 50), and Oppenheimer v. Attenborough (L. R. [1908], 1 K. B. 221)-have in between been decided by the Court of Appeal, in which both the effect and limits of the Factors Act have been carefully scrutinised. The result of these two decisions has been carefully noted and commented upon in the present edition. A slight improvement has been introduced by, in the majority of cases, inserting in the notes, references to the Law Journal Reports, as well as in the Table of Cases, the plan previously adopted. The scheme of this work makes for simplicity of reference, and has very much to commend it. The whole book is divided into Articles, each of which, after dealing with its own particular point, has copious and illuminating illustrations bearing thereon, together with notes, attached to the end. In the Appendix is given the Factors Act 1889 and the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. Both the Index and the Tables of Cases are copious and complete. As a treatise on Agency it may well be recommended to the notice of readers, not at present included in the large circle already familiar with the work.

Fourth Edition. The Law of Employers' Liability and Workmen's Compensation. By THOMAS BEVEN. London: Stevens & Haynes.

1909.

In the preface Mr. Beven gives a résumé of his struggles to produce the various editions of this book, a recitation which is not only amusing, but will be instructive to any would-be author. The text is divided into three parts. The first Part treats of the Employers' liability at Common law, and is divided into various propositions or principles derivable from the decisions. Part II deals with the Employers' Liability Act 1880. First of all comes the text of the Act itself, and again certain propositions deducible therefrom are given us. The learned Author is of opinion that this course can safely be adopted, owing to the fact that the Case law under the Employers' Liability Act 1880 is now pretty nearly complete. The Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 occupies the third Part, and this is the portion of the treatise that creates the most lively interest. It is not very difficult to see that Mr. Beven does not rank high this democratic piece of legislation, and he sums up the situation in the formula:-"The real friend is Codlin not Short." Here again he adopts the method so highly commended to him by the County Court Judge, who said: "I use your book in my Court, It is a very good one. The chief advantage of it is that you print the Act in legible type unencumbered with note or comment, so that one can see what it says." Still, when we come to what Mr. BEVEN says, we find, as one would expect from him, that the learned Author's comments are trenchant and to the point. The cases are analysed lucidly and without unnecessary verbosity, the points decided, as it were, "hit one in the face." In the Appendices are given the various Rules and Forms, issued by many authorities, the length of which rouses the Author's ire. "I hardly venture to groan under this pestilent abuse by all these high authorities of the power to make rules," is quite one of his mildest comments. The whole treatise is worthy of Mr. Beven's well-known skill, and it will continue to occupy the position of being one of the earliest as well as one of the ablest of the expositions of the law of Employers' liability.

Seventh Edition. Seaborne's Law of Vendors and Purchasers of Real Estate. By W. A. JOLLY, M.A. London: Butterworth & Co. 1908.

Mr. Jolly's "concise manual" has been enriched by some recent cases of considerable importance. For instance, the decision in

Nisbet and Pott's Contract has much extended the doctrine of constructive notice. The right of the vendor to rescind the contract has been qualified by the recent cases of Jackson and Harden's Contract, Quinion v. Horne, and Weston v. Thomas, which enforce the vendor to act bonâ fide, and not arbitrarily or unreasonably. The only legislation of importance since the last edition is the Married Woman's Property Act of 1907, which has removed some difficulties caused by a rather narrow construction of the law. The question of Liquidation of Companies has also received more attention in consequence of some recent decisions. The work, without ceasing to merit its title of "concise," is full of information.

By Sir

Seventh Edition. The Law of Bills of Exchange. M. D. CHALMERS, K.C.B., C.S.I. London: Stevens & Sons. 1909.

Few lawyers possess a wider or more profound knowledge of the subject of negotiable instruments than Sir M. D. Chalmers. The draftsman of the Bills of Exchange Acts of 1882 and 1906, it would be hard, if not impossible, to find one more qualified to write a standard work thereon, of which the former Act is a codification, which has stood the test of a quarter of a century. The learned Author not only has studied his subject from the English standpoint, but has made himself familiar with the European and American law on this head. To those who wish to study the historical aspect of the law of Bills of Exchange and kindred documents, one cannot do better than advise a careful perusal of the Introduction to the Third Edition, retained in the present one, which consists of a résumé of the history, both lucid and erudite, in which is traced the growth of and use of the negotiable instrument both on the Continent and in England. The main part of the text of the book is taken up with the Bills of Exchange Act 1882 annotated section by section. In the Appendices is gathered together certain matters germane to the main subject, and statutes bearing directly and indirectly thereupon. It only remains to be said that the present edition fully maintains the high standard set by the learned Author in former editions.

Eleventh Edition. Indermaur's Principles of the Common Law. By JOHN INDERMAUR and C. THWAITES. London: Stevens & Haynes. 1909. - Originally produced with a view to the Law Society's Examinations, we think that this book can now claim a wider circle of readers than law students, though we can imagine no

more useful guide for that class. In spite of a great deal of additional matter, the work has, the Authors claim, actually been slightly reduced in size by revision. The book is divided into three parts, of which the first deals with Contracts, the second with Torts, and the third with Damages and Evidence. The style is admirable and simple, and praiseworthy use is made of italics. As an example of the Authors' concise methods we may take the law dealing with the procuring a person to break his contract, and its limitation by the Trades Disputes Act 1906. This is dealt with in some three pages, but the law seems to be outlined with quite sufficient clearness. The Appendix includes the Law of Distress Amendment Act 1908.

Fifteenth Edition. Chitty on Contracts. By WYATT PAINE. London Sweet & Maxwell. 1909.

Fifteen editions in a little over eighty years seems a very fair number, but for the last few years the editions have been coming out at shorter intervals than was formerly the case, and the last edition came out as lately as the autumn of 1904. The present Editor has done a good deal more than simply include the recent cases, and has aimed at making the work "a compendious and thoroughly up-to-date disquisition upon the whole law of contractual obligations as regulated by statute and interpreted by judicial decisions." The amount of additions and re-writing that the Editor is responsible for will be shown by two facts. The first is that the increase in bulk is something like one hundred pages, and this, too, in spite of the fact that Mr. Paine has not only limited his alterations but has also made considerable omissions. The second fact is, that he has either discussed in the text or included in the notes "several thousand additional cases." These, it is apparent, cannot all have been decided since 1904, and they have been collected largely to support new statements and qualify old ones. The Workmen's Compensation Act 1906, and the Companies Act 1907, are both responsible for some additions, but all through the work we find here a few lines added to a paragraph qualifying or supporting the statements in it, and there a new paragraph, mostly, as far as we have noticed, short. All these additions and alterations seem to have been done with great care and judgment, and contribute to maintain the high character of Chitty on Contracts as an authority.

Fifteenth Edition. Stephen's Commentaries on the Laws of Edited by E. JENKS, M.A., B.C.L. London: 1908.

England. 4 vols.

Butterworth & Co. We hardly expected another edition of the Commentaries quite so soon after the important departure made by Mr. Jenks when he took up the editorship of the last edition. However, he admits that owing to the "hurried preparation" of the last edition several defects had been overlooked, and hopes for a substantial improvement in the present one. Every year, too, provides fresh materials for incorporation in a work of the scope of Commentaries on the Laws of England, and since the last issue, among other Acts, there have been passed the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act 1904, Trade Marks 1905, Marine Insurance 1906, Merchant Shipping 1906, Workmen's Compensation 1906, Trades Disputes, Territorial Forces 1907, Criminal Appeal 1907, and Patents 1907. No acts passed in 1908 are included in the present edition, so that material is already accumulating for another, in the shape of the Children's Charter 1908. A considerable number of changes have been made in each volume. In Volume I the Conveyancing Acts have been deprived of their special chapter, and Mortgages have been allowed one to themselves. Mr. Jenks is responsible for the greater part of the volume, including the re-written Chapter XXV on the Settled Land Acts; but Mr. J. A. Strahan has revised Chapters XVI, XVIII-XXII, and re-written Chapter XXVI on Registration of Deeds; and Chapter XXVII, on Death Duties on Land, has had the advantage of being re-written by Mr. C. R. Elliott, of the Estate Duty Office. The recent legislation has caused a "severe reformation" of the second volume, particularly in the chapters on "Title by Invention," "Master and Servant," and "Husband and Wife." The first half of this volume, dealing with "rights in private relations," has been revised by Mr. W. M. Gildart. The very long and important chapter on "Title by Contract," which in the last edition was revised and practically re-written by Mr. Gover, has again "undergone thorough revision." The result of all this is unfortunate, inasmuch as it increases the size of the volume by nearly a hundred pages. In the third volume the part dealing with the "Social Economy of the Realm" has been again revised, this time chiefly by Mr. Latter. The volume also contains new chapters on the procedure of the King's Bench and Chancery Division by Mr. R. Dunlop and Master Hughes Onslow respectively. Perhaps