fossils. We do not question the high value of the notes, but the form of the book is not improved by the process. The work is brought well up to the time of publication. The learned Author is always careful and moderate, and there is a certain intimate note about his writing which ensures interest on the part of the reader. In this respect he resembles Ortolan and Hautefeuille more than any English author. A useful table of the Hague Conventions is appended to the volume, which also contains an instructive map to illustrate the Alaska arbitration.

Fifth Edition. Carver's Carriage by Sea. By R. A. WRIGHT, M.A. London: Stevens & Sons. 1909.

Owing to the death of the Author, a new editor of this well known work had to be chosen. Mr. Wright has performed the duty of bringing the present edition up to date, and seems to have acquitted himself with considerable success. In the year 1893 the United States passed an Act which had a very considerable effect upon carriage by sea between America and other countries. This Act, commonly known as Harter's Act, is treated of at considerable but necessary length in sects. 103 A to 103 F, and the proofs have been revised, and valuable hints thereon given by Mr. J. Parker Kirlin of the New York Bar. The treatise is divided into three parts, dealing respectively with Contract, Voyage and Delivery. In each part is given the subsidiary matters which affect the principal one. This division of the contents makes for clearness and ease of reference. His Honour Judge Carver, was well known as an adept in the subject upon which he wrote, bringing to bear a ripe experience, coupled with a profound knowledge, the two qualities which have caused this treatise to have a world-wide fame. The Appendices, five in number, provide the reader with much useful and practical information, including as they do forms for everyday use. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the individual merits of the bookmerits which are too well known to need commendation. The Table of Cases is complete, and the Index comprehensive. Mr. Wright is entitled to great credit for the result of his efforts in producing this edition.

Fifth Edition.

Terrell on Patents. By COURTNEY TERRELL.

London Sweet & Maxwell. 1909.

It is less than four years since Mr. Terrell issued his last edition, but since then the Act of 1907 has been passed. Special attention

was required to the new provisions of this Act. As regards the important section 27, much light has been thrown on its effect by the judgment of Mr. Justice Parker in Hatschek's Patents, which is fully reported in the Appendix. An important alteration is a new chapter on "Subject-matter," in which Mr. Terrell has laboured hard to explain what this is, and to point out how it has often been confused with "novelty." Another source of confusion has been the many meanings which the word "invention" has been made. to bear. Mr. Terrell has analysed all the cases with the greatest care, but he has found the subject a very difficult one and is "far from satisfied" with the result. The writing of this chapter on Subject-matter" has of course necessitated considerable alterations in the parts dealing with the inextricably connected subjects of "Novelty" and "Infringement." All the changes in practice under the new Act are considered and new forms given. A curious slip in Chapter XII is that the Act is occasionally called the Act of 1908 instead of 1907.

Fifth Edition. The Workmen's Compensation Act 1906. By ADSHEAD ELLIOTT, M.A. London Sherratt & Hughes. 1909. Third Edition. The Workmen's Compensation Act 1906. By HENRY LYNN. London: Jordan & Sons. 1909.

The Workmen's Compensation Act 1906, in the first instance a short Act, has had applied to it an amount of judicial interpretation which grows rapidly each month. This is proved by the fact that since that year Mr. Elliott's work has reached a fifth edition and Mr. Lynn's the third, the latter more than doubling its price. The scheme of Mr. Elliott's book has much to commend it both in system and method of application. It is quite a pretentious analysis, and one can see it taking a place in time as one of the standard works on Workmen's Compensation. The present edition has been brought thoroughly up to date and revised in all its particulars. Further, it comprises all relevant cases reported not only in the Appeal Courts of England but also in Scotland and Ireland. The reader has therefore the materials ready at hand for comparing the methods of application applied by the judges in those three countries. The new rules issued from time to time have been incorporated with the Principal Rules of 1907. This book is intended for a large circle of readers, as is proved by the fact that it caters for

Scottish practitioners by including the Act of Sederunt 1909 Altogether, this is a treatise to be highly com

of that country.

mended to not only legal practitioners but also to laymen.

Mr. Lynn's book has justly met with considerable success. Simple and direct in language, it gives the gist of the principal authorities cited. Very rightly he points out the frequency of instances in which the Court has refused to interfere, on the ground that the matter was one of "fact" for the arbitrator. Let us hope that this tendency will continue to prevail, as appeals should not be encouraged, the Act being a "poor man's Act" and intended to give the working man a cheap and effective remedy. The Index is comprehensive in its terms, and serves as an excellent key to the text. As a handbook Mr. Lynn's book should certainly rank very high.

Sixth Edition. The Students' Guide to the Principles of the Common Law. By CHARLES THWAITES. London: George Barber. 1909.

Fourth Edition. The Students' Guide to Procedure and Evidence. By CHARLES THWAITES. London: George Barber. 1909. These well-known volumes have the benign purpose of mitigating for the law student the wearisome bitterness of his learning, and consist of excellent advice as to the books he should read, some test questions to enable him to discover how much of his reading has eluded his mental grip, and a digest of real questions set at examinations, with answers prepared by the Author. Examinees are sometimes possessed of a desperate courage, and it is by no means unlikely that some bold student, after cramming up these questions and answers, will present himself to a suffering examiner in the hope of securing a pass. But if the books which the Author recommends are well read, these "Guides" should be of great assistance to any student.

Seventh Edition. Russell on Crimes and Misdemeanours. By W. F. CRAIES and L. W. KERSHAW. London: Stevens & Sons. 1909.

Russell on Crimes is the leading work on Criminal law in general, other works such as Archbold or Roscoe may deal in greater detail with such branches of it as criminal pleading and evidence, but we shall find in them all constant references to Russell for further information. The last edition came out so long ago as early in

1896, and when we consider the number of important cases decided and Acts passed since then, we may wonder that there has been so long a delay. It comes now, however, at a very opportune time, as it includes such recent and important Acts as those of 1904 and 1908 relating to Children, the Consolidated Post Office Act of 1908, the Poor Prisoner's Defence Act of 1903, The Criminal Appeal Act of 1907, Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1908, and the Prevention of Crimes Act 1908. Decisions up to last July have been included, so the Editors have not been able to include the most recent decisions on the Prevention of Crimes Act. The present edition has been somewhat reduced in size as instead of the former three substantial volumes, the work now consists of two large volumes and a small Index volume. Considerable revision of material has taken place, and the Highway and Bridge indictments have been omitted as no longer being "criminal proceedings." The titles and chapters have been arranged according to the main lines of the Draft Criminal Code of 1880, but for some reason unexplained the subjects of treason and treason-felony continue to be omitted. A remarkable instance of the new arrangement is that of Libel. In the last edition, uttering, publishing, or exhibiting blasphemous, seditious, obscene, and defamatory writings, etc., were treated together under the head of Libel and Indictable Slander. These have now been separated and relegated to more appropriate titles. Other important changes are the collection of all the offences relating to railways and railway trains into one chapter, and the omission of the numerous statutes regulating the celebration of marriage set forth in detail in former editions. A feature which is worth noting is the reduction in the references to the Criminal law of the United States, and the increase in those to the decisions of the Colonial Courts. One distinguishing feature of Russell, is the comparatively full account of the facts of cases which renders it so valuable to practitioners when away from law libraries; but we think that in some instances space might have been saved by somewhat curtailing the reference, as for instance, in the long quotation of Foster, J.'s criticism of the conclusions of the judges in Tooley's Case; and perhaps in some cases where it has been suggested that a case may have to be reconsidered, as R. v. Hotine, some statement of the judge's reasons might be advisable. These are all,

however, matters of opinion. If, however, the reader wishes to see a thorough examination of a case n a note we may refer him to R. v. Thompson. We do not quite understand the statement on page 150, that conspiracies to commit an offence when executed " appears to merge in the completed offence." Is it not a very common occurrence for defendants to be convicted on the same indictment, both of conspiring to defraud and of the actual fraud? On page 182, a line seems to have got strangely out of place, the 30th line seeming to have no connection with the line above. The Editors are inclined to give greater privileges to diplomatic officers than Sir Albert Bosanquet is in his learned contribution to The Laws of England, as they consider that they are as a matter of comity. privileged against prosecution for any breach of the Criminal law of England." We think the longest notice of a case in the book is that of R. v. Burns, which is judiciously selected as giving the best statement of the present law of sedition, and six pages are devoted to the summing up of Cave, J.

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The law of Riots has received recent consideration in the important case of Field v. Receiver of Metropolitan Police, but we think the decisions on the cases of the suffragettes are too recent to have been included. We notice that the ruling of Bosanquet, C.S., in R. v. Atkins is preferred to that of the Recorder in a later trial of the same case. The learned Editors have considered the statement in the last edition "that to show for money a human being of unnatural or monstrous shape is a misdemeanour," and have decided that it is too wide and "not fully warranted by the authority cited." The only blemish on this learned and invaluable book is a rather unusual number of misprints. Thus, we have noticed a sentence running as follows:-"it was held sufficient to go to the jury if that a witness deposed for recollection the evidence given by the prisoner." We have found "grevious" for "grievous,"" whatever" for "whenever," "extending" for "intending,"

," "offence" for "defence," "not" for "nor," and "unreserved" for "unreversed." Such slips are perhaps unimportant, but they look bad in an otherwise carefully edited book.

Ninth Edition. Key and Elphinstone's Precedents in Conveyancing. 2 Vols. By Sir H. W. ELPHINSTONE, Bart., F. T. MAW, and G. H. J. HURST. London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1909.