in order that the deliberations of the House may "retain what they are fast losing, the interest and respect of the Country." We think his severest comment is on the peculiar manner in which the Royal Prerogative was placed at the service of the ministers. "A prerogative which eminently needs the impartial discretion of the Sovereign at the moment of its exercise, was placed unreservedly in the hands of ministers necessarily biassed by the interests of Party, many months before the exercise of this power could be required, or the conditions of its exercise foreseen."

Fourth Edition. Browne and Theobald's Law of Railways. By J. H. BALFOUR BROWNE, K.C., and H. CONACHER. London: Stevens & Sons. 1911.

Extensive as the range of Railway law undoubtedly is, this is, on this vast subject, a comprehensive work, for it treats fully of almost everything connected with a railway except administration. No less than one hundred and twenty statutes are included in it, with statutory rules, forms and orders, and the bye-laws approved by the Board of Trade. And embodied in it are all the new relevant cases in the English, Scotch and Irish Courts, and the decisions under the Railway and Canal Traffic Act. So numerous are the cases quoted that their catalogue fills eighty-seven pages. Besides the discriminative notes to the general body of statutes, the Authors supply full information on Private Bill procedure, the law of rating as far as it concerns railways, and the jurisdiction of the Court of the Railway and Canal Commission. Consideration is even given to all questions likely to arise under the powers and obligations bestowed and exacted by Parliament. And if it is possible that there should arise in actual practice any matter of difficulty beyond those so considered, it is certain that an answer could be found in the nearly fourteen hundred pages contained in this great work. The long and unsurpassed experience of Mr. Balfour Browne, the minuteness of his knowledge of railway affairs, the scrupulous and exhaustive care which he has exercised, have brought this work to the perfection which justly places it in the first rank as a text-book on railways.

Fourth Edition. Manual of Naval Law and Court Martial Procedure. By J. E. R. STEPHENS, C. E. GIFFORD, and F. H. SMITH. London: Stevens & Sons. 1912.

This book will be of use principally to Naval officers on active service, and it seems to treat fully and ably on the subjects

comprised in its title. There is a chapter on the early state and discipline of the Navy which contains very interesting material, not readily accessible elsewhere. The portions on the rules of evidence and on offences punishable by ordinary law will, no doubt, be of value to those in authority for whom the book is designed. But there is an unhappy slip at page 198, where, in a definition of burglary, it is stated that, "to constitute the offence of burglary, the place must not be a dwelling-house."

Fifth Edition. Goodeve's Modern Law of Personal Property. By J. H. WILLIAMS and W. M. CROWDY. London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1912.

As it is eight years since the same Editors produced the former edition, considerable alterations have had to be made in the present one, for in the interval many important matters that fall within the compass of the work have been dealt with by the Legislature ; Marine Insurance, for instance, and Trade Marks, Companies, and Copyright. All the Chapters on these subjects have required to be re-written. The book has such an established repute in the curriculum of legal education that any detailed comments on its merits are superfluous. But as, beyond constant perusal by students, it is frequently consulted by practitioners, mention may justly be made of the Chapter on Debts and Guarantees. The Index has of necessity been revised, and it has fully answered all the tests to which there has been opportunity of making it subject.

Fifth Edition. Lowndes's Law of General Average: English and Foreign. By E. L. DE HART and G. R. RUDOLF. London: Stevens & Sons. 1912.

There is nothing new under the sun, not even average adjustments, for the old Rhodians decreed, in an explicit sentence, that which is the strict foundation of the principle in force to-day. The advance of maritime enterprise during the twenty-four years that have passed since the previous edition of this work was issued has added nearly as many difficulties in the adjustment of complex salvage operations as had arisen between the ancient. days and that time. And therefore a book on this intricate subject of such authority as the one under notice, brought closely up to date, will be a valuable work of reference for everyone concerned in this branch of the law, and for members of the separate and important profession of average

adjusters. Its value is much increased by the addition in the Appendix of the original text, and a parallel translation of the codes of the chief commercial nations of the world on the subject.

Sixth Edition. The Law of Landlord and Tenant. By J. H. REDMAN. London: Butterworth & Co. 1912.

This well-known and important book has for this edition been carefully revised throughout and in part re-written. As might be expected from the nature of the subject an enormous number of cases are referred to, and these are brought down to the date of publication. The bulk of the volume has been necessarily increased, not only by many additional cases, but by the passing, since the issue of the last edition, of the Amendment Act and of the Agricultural Holdings Act, both of 1908. And, of course, the Finance Act claims a large amount of notice. There are some chapters of great weight, as, for instance, that on Varieties of Tenure, and those on the Requisites and Nature of Demise, and on Repairs. If summaries as discriminating as that on Distress could be supplied to the other divisions of the work, the diligent reader could, by a moderate exertion of memory, acquire a vade mecum to the whole complicated subject.

Seventh Edition. The Principles of Pleading and Practice in Civil Actions. By W. BLAKE ODGERS, M.A., LL.D., K.C. London: Stevens & Sons. 1912.

The Law of Discovery. Butterworth & Co. 1912.

By R. E. Ross, LL.B. London :

There is little to add in praise of Mr. Blake Odgers' well-known work on Practice and Pleading. A book on a special subject by an expert writer is a phrase which might well sum up its merits. Pleading and Practice have gradually emerged from their old technical straight waistcoat, and the tendency is to give, year by year, more free play to their formerly cramped limbs. As time goes on, the common-sense aspect of this treatment becomes more apparent. All the phases of this development are fully demonstrated in the treatise, and numerous precedents are set out. Brought up to date, and thoroughly revised, and with all relevant decisions noted down to and including 1st September, 1911, the

present edition will continue to hold the high position occupied by former ones.

Discovery-comprising as it does (A) the right to administer interrogatories, (B) the right to know what documents are in the possession of the other side, (c) the right to see and copy those documents-is of necessity a very intricate subject, and is one that has been dealt with in many treatises. Mr. Ross has not only dealt with it from the English point of view, but also from the Canadian. His book comprises four Parts-(1) Introductory matter, (2) Discovery in the King's Bench and Chancery Division of the High Court, (3) Discovery in Particular Proceedings and in other Divisions of the High Court, (4) Discovery in the County Courts. It will therefore be apparent that his researches cover a very wide field, and it may be said, at once, that his efforts have met with considerable success. The necessity of the Canadian notes is not altogether obvious, and they seem perhaps to be a surplusage.

Sixteenth Edition.

Snell's Principles of Equity. By ARCHIBALD BROWN. London: Stevens & Haynes. 1912.

The name of this book must be as familiar to every living member of the Bar as Blackstone's Commentaries. Comparing this edition. with the seventh, which happens to be the earliest available one, it is observable that, though the main divisions and most of the sub-divisions in both are the same, the mode of treatment both in expression and type in the present one is much the more effective. The explanation now given of 13 Eliz., c. 5, may be instanced. And as to the type employed, emphasis is obtained for the more important points of the text by the use of italics; and this contrast, judiciously chosen as it is, will enforce the extent or limitation of a statement almost unconsciously upon the attention of a reader. In a treatise on a separate branch of law, it is of course difficult to give even a passing explanation of portions of another branch, but as Equity has much concern with real property, it may be suggested that it would assist a student with knowledge still fluid, if a short explanation on technical points, such as the rule in Shelley's Case, were placed in a foot note under the first reference to the matter. This sixteenth edition is quite the latest issued on the subject of Equity, and will be of great value to students pursuing their reading.

Twenty-second Edition. Paterson's Licensing Acts. G. R. HILL. London: Butterworth & Co. 1911.

By

The Annual Licensing Practice 1912. By R. M. MONTGOMERY and H. D. WOODCOCK. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

1911.

After the forcible legislation of recent years, with amending statutes passed in the Session just closed relative to licensing, a volume brought up to the latest date on this complicated matter will be welcome to the profession. The original work had, from its many revisions, already matured into a finished presentment of the subject, and its well-established reputation is sustained by the present issue. When this edition was in the press, the Finance Act of 1911 was still in its embryo stage; but at page 367 the learned Editor closely anticipated, from a clause in the Bill, the ultimate statement of the important amending definition of "premises" which now forms sect. 4 of 1 & 2 Geo. V, cap. 48. Sections of the many Acts which still have an influence on the subject are set out, and the Consolidation Act of 1910 is given in full with notes. respects this treatise seems excellent and complete.

In all

The Practice is a revision and enlargement of the issue of last year, and, like the above publication, quotes the new Acts which regulate licensing and the portions still operative of the old Acts, as far back even as the Sale of Spirits Act of 1750. One of the enlargements is a new chapter on Clubs, and another is a Diary for the use of Magistrates' Clerks, showing the dates at which licensing meetings must be held, notices sent out, and Government returns sent in. The topic of Costs is very conveniently brought into a single chapter, and the general arrangement of the work gives the assurance that, with the Appendix of Forms, the book will be an ample guide to those who have practical concern with this branch of the law.

1912.

Forty-fourth Edition. Stone's Justices' Manual. Edited by J. R. ROBERTS. London: Butterworth & Co. Ninth Edition. The Magistrate's General Practice. By C. M. ATKINSON, M.A., LL.M. London: Stevens & Sons. 1912.

As the Parliamentary mill grinds out fresh legislation year by year, the duties falling upon magistrates become not only more onerous but more numerous. The year 1911 was particularly prolific in this respect, for not only was there much legislation passed, but much judicial decision was delivered affecting the duties of Summary