appreciate without assistance. The editors think that a single case, if of authority, is ample to support a proposition, and in this we agree. The claim that the book is suitable for the use of the practitioner is of a more ambitious character, and liable to be misunderstood; but all language must be interpreted secundum subiectam materiam, and as the book only purports to deal with the principles of equity, this claim is justified. Armed with one apposite authority, the practitioner can either consult a text book in which the subject is elaborately discussed, or he may depend upon a carefully noted up library for further assistance. The authors lay no claim to perfection, but they come very near attaining that elusive goal. After a careful perusal of different portions of the book, and certainly of quite two-thirds of the actual text, we can only give the following list of 'regrettable incidents': Spread v. Morgan (1865) 11 H. L. C. 588; 145 R. R. 315, and Wilson v. Thornbury (1875) L. R. 10 Ch. 239; 44 L. J. Ch. 242, should have been cited in connection with the doctrine of election, as should Padbury v. Clark (1850) 2 Mac. & G. 298; 86 R. R. 116. Spread v. Morgan is a decision of the House of Lords, and the speeches of the learned Lords would require an amplification of the statement on p. 186. Padbury v. Clark is a useful illustration of a wider doctrine that a party cannot be compelled to elect prospectively, and his acts before the time has actually arrived for making his election are not to be regarded as binding except on the clearest evidence that he intended them to be so. The principle is familiar to common law practitioners: Ripley v. McClure (1849) 4 Ex. 345; 80 R. R. 593; Jones v. Gibbons (1853) 8 Ex. 920; 91 R. R. 841; Mersey Steel Co. v. Naylor (1884) 9 App. Cas. 434; 53 L. J. Q. B. 497. Again we think it would have been useful to state that where a purchase for value without notice is pleaded, the burden of proof is on the party alleging notice-omnia rite esse acta presumuntur: Corser v. Cartwright (1875) L. R. 7 H. L. 731; 45 L. J. Ch. 605. This is important because there is a dictum of Farwell, L.J., based upon a misreading of Att.-Gen. v. Biphosphated Guano Co., in which the burden is shifted upon the purchaser: Wilkes v. Spooner [1911] 2 K. B. 473; 80 L. J. K. B. 1107., Where cases of election by parties under disability arise, the modern practice is for the court to elect, and not to give a day' to the party under disability when the disability is removed: Cooper v. Cooper (1874) L. R. 7 H. L. 53; 44 L. J. Ch. 6; Wilder v. Piggott (1882) 22 Ch. D. 263; 52 L. J. Ch. 141; Re Montagu [1896] 1 Ch. 549; 65 L. J. Ch. 372. The editors have stated with their usual accuracy that the Court will not add up small gifts so as to make a portion,' but cite no authority. Watson v. Watson (1864) 33 Beav. 574; 140 R. R. 267, is a useful authority. Among the minor matters we would note that Robinson v. Wheelwright was affirmed by the full court and is reported 6 De G. M. & G. 535; 106 R. R. 192, and that Phillips v. Phillips and Wylie v. Pollen are reported in the regular series as well as in the Law Journal Reports-4 De G. F. & J. 208; 135 R. R. 97; and 3 De G. J. & S. 596 (head note only 142 R. R. 180). 'Nothing extenuate nor aught set down in malice,' has been our guide, and we think we have established two inevitable conclusions-First, that we have read this edition with attention; secondly, that the faults of omission or commission are few and venial. A. E. R. Registration of Title to Land throughout the British Empire. By JAMES EDWARD HOGG, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-atLaw, and of the Australian Bar. Toronto: The Carswell Co., Lim. London Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. xxii and 773 pp. (£3 5s. net.) THE sub-title may be adopted to describe this book-a treatise on the law relating to warranty of title to land by registration and transactions with registered land in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, Ireland, West Indies, Malaya, &c.' One merit the book does possess, and that is clearness of statement. The author has practised in Australia. He has had a practical experience in the working of the Torrens system, and this is reflected in his method of compilation. Instead of an annotated reprint of statutes with cross references, he has classified the rights or interests to be registered in self-contained chapters, and dealt with transactions-sales, mortgages, leases-in a similar manner. Equitable interests, the protection of creditors, and miscellaneous matters also come in for separate treatment. All this is in narrative form, the statutes being relegated to the appendix. By resorting to the narrative form of exposition, the practitioner has the assistance afforded by decisions given in other jurisdictions, for most statutes reproduce, in exact terms, the language of other statutes. This usual method of interpretation by adoption of decisions in other jurisdictions has been followed judicially-see Toronto General Trusts Corp. v. Regem, cited in note 3, p. 279. The advantages of a system of registration of title have been so frequently vaunted that we read note 75, p. 395, with surprise. So far as we can gather, a single transaction has involved three appeals to the Privy Council, and a fourth to the Federal Court in Australia. Under the 'fatuous' free system of unregistered land, we could hardly expect to garner so rich a crop of litigation in England. Under the heading addenda, corrigenda' we found corroboration of our conclusion that the manuscript had been carefully prepared, and the proof sheets carefully read. There is not a single corrigendum, and the addenda consist entirely of cases reported too late for inclusion in the text. A. E. R. Dictionary of Anglo-Belgian Law; Dictionnaire de Droit Anglo- THIS book is divided into two parts. Part I consists of definitions in English of Belgian law terms; Part II of definitions of English law terms in French. The definitions of the English terms the only ones we feel competent to test-are generally accurate and complete. What, for example, could be neater than the definition of a mortgage as 'l'accessoire d'une dette et sert de garantie au paiement de celle-ci.' It is a paraphrase of Lord Nottingham's in Thornborough v. Baker (1675) 2 Wh. & Tud. L. C. 1. We may pardon a writer who fails to deal exhaustively with Mistake' in twelve lines, but a reference to art. 1110 of the Code Civil may supplement an otherwise insufficient definition; at any rate, there is no error of commission. The book is a joint production, and the outlines of the Belgian law are probably presented in a equally reliable form. A. E. R. Trust Accounts. By PRETOR W. CHANDLER, Master of the Supreme Court. Third edition by the author and J. H. STAMP, Barrister-at-Law. London: Butterworth & Co. 1919. 8vo. (12s. 6d. net.) A solicitor is expected to be both lawyer and a man of business, and some knowledge of book-keeping is essential to the latter. The general principles of book-keeping can be easily acquired from that well known, simple, and excellent text book by Hamilton & Ball (Clarendon Press Series), especially with a lecturer's help. Professional accountants keep trust accounts on the same general principles as they keep any other accounts, e.g., The Public Trustee's accounts. Assuredly they would not suggest adopting the system of Chancery Officials, however venerable its antiquity, which, however, Master Chandler adopts as his basis. The responsibility for enforcing this system on articled students is no slight One would suppose that the true course is to insist on an elementary knowledge of book-keeping, with especial regard to trust accounts, certainly not to specialize only, and that too with a system which every trained professional accountant would condemn. one. Books also received: Jurisprudence. By SIR JOHN SALMOND, Solicitor-General for New Zealand. Sixth edition. London Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1920. 8vo. xv and 512 pp. (20s. net). The distinctive feature of this new edition is a lucid and instructive appendix entitled The Territory of the State,' explaining the various gradations of sovereignty and jurisdiction in British dominions, colonies, and protectorates. Certain colonial protectorates, the learned author points out, are British territory in fact, since all the authority there exercised is British, but not in law, since they have never been annexed. What are the allegiance and status of persons born in such territories? With regard to India we are not sure that the relations between protected Indian rulers and the Government of India are not sui generis. The Young Man and the Law. By SIMEON E. BALDWIN. New York: The Macmillan Co. 1920. 8vo. 160 pp. ($1.50.) The literature of the Common Law has always been rather weak in the exposition of professional ideals and methods for the assistance of novices and the information of the lay people. We have never had a great vulgarisateur (to use a French term which cannot be Englished) like Cicero, whom Prof. Baldwin, some time Chief Justice and Governor of Connecticut, quotes much to the purpose more than once. Errors of the crudest kind about the nature and necessary limitations of legal justice are still current. This little book is an effective contribution towards the remedy from a lawyer of wide and varied experience in judicial, political, and academic office. It may do its work none the worse for being, as it seems to a professional reader, rather desultory. We will pick out one pregnant saying which goes to the root of many fallacies: Law is not the science of rights. It is the science of enforceable rights.' English lawyers may learn here incidentally some of the reasons why their American brethren, in the leading jurisdictions at any rate, are on the whole better equipped all round and less narrowed by specialism. The Sovereignty of the British Seas, written in the year 1633. By (the late) SIR JOHN BOROUGHS, Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London. Edited, with introductory Essay and Notes, by THOMAS CALLANDER WADE, M.B.E. Edinburgh W. Green & Sons, Lim. 1920. La. 8vo. viii and 115 pp. (78. 6d.)—All interest in the topic from a legal point of view has long since vanished. The introduction is sufficient to redeem the book from a charge of futility, and future historians may find it a convenient book to consult. The 'sea-harvest' mentioned by Sir John Boroughs includes herring, cod, hake, ling, 'pilchers,' and 'great Staple ling.' It is not uninteresting to note that the Dutch boxed' their catches. Nets were known of course, although some resorted to unorthodox means of capture; and as we find no mention of soles, turbot, or any other flat fish, we may infer that trawling was unknown as well as not practised. The German Treaty Text, with Introduction by LORD ROBERT CECIL. Preface by H. W. V. TEMPERLEY, and a brief Commentary. London: Henry Froude; Hodder & Stoughton. 1920. 8vo. viii and 302 pp. (5s. net). This cheap and handy form of the Peace Treaty will doubtless be welcomed by many who have hitherto been unable to study its many and complicated provisions. The volume is published on behalf of the Institution of International Affairs, and is a supplement to five elaborate volumes dealing with the Peace Conference of Paris.' To facilitate the study of the text of the Treaty, various preliminary documents are included in the volume, together with a commentary on the text and appendices containing many important documents elucidatory of the Treaty. These papers have not been brought together in any other form, and they enhance the utility of the present publication. The Small Holdings and Allotments Acts, 1908-1919, and the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, with Notes and Forms. By AUBREY JOHN SPENCER. Second edition. London: Stevens & Sons, Lim. 1920. 8vo. xiv and 284 pp. (108.). This is a new edition of Mr. Spencer's handy annotated reprint of these Acts. The Circular Letters and Forms thereunder are of great importance to local authorities and others concerned with the question of small holdings and allotments. Maritime Law. By ALBERT SAUNDERS. Second edition enlarged. With a Supplement on the Law of Shipping during war as modified, 1914-18, by SANFORD D. COLE. London: Effingham Wilson: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1920. (25s.) This work, the imaginary life history of the good ship Malabar from the cradle to a watery grave off Ushant, was favourably reviewed in L. Q. R. xxvi, 297. This issue is a reprint of the second edition, published in 1910. The only part of the present issue that is new is Mr. Sanford Cole's summary of events prior to and during the war, including the chief Prize Court decisions, which have affected the position of ships and shipping in time of war. Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence. By Hon. Mr. Justice STORY. Third English edition. By A. E. RANDALL, Barrister-at-Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1920. La. 8vo. xxxvii and 673 pp. (37s. 6d. net.) A bare announcement of this edition of Story' is made. Following the rule established by the late Editor of this Review, the present Editor does not intend to admit reviews of books for which he is responsible. Journal of the Parliaments of the Empire. Vol. I., No. 2. April, 1920. London: Empire Parliamentary Association, Westminster Hall, S.W. 8vo. pp. 227-392. (7s. 6d. net to non-members). Contains summary of proceedings which took place during the first part of the 1920 Session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom; of the Canadian Parliament to the end of March; of the Australian and New Zealand Parliaments during the latter part of the 1919 Session; and of the South African Parliament to March 25. It forms a handy summary of information otherwise difficult to obtain. Cases in Criminal Law. By COURTNEY STANHOPE KENNY, LL.D., F.B.A., late Professor of Law in the University of Cambridge, &c. Fourth edition. Cambridge: At the University Press. 1919. xix and 548 pp. (15s.) This old favourite has changed little since its last appearance in 1912. Occasionally this is a disadvantage, as at p. 323, where section 88 of the Larceny Act, 1861, is cited as if it were unrepealed. Under Treason, surely, there was scope for a reference to Casement's case, and, perhaps, other appeals in the House of Lords; R. v. Ball and R. v. Christie might have found a place. Nor is there, semble, any entry of Indictment in the Index. In the Table of Cases, too, it would be well, in a student's book, to include those mentioned in the notes, as they are often decisive. But on the whole the book is as good as ever. Transactions of the Grotius Society. Vol. V. Problems of Peace and War. Papers read before the Society in 1919. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1920. 8vo. XXV and 154 pp.. (Non-members, 6s. net.)Contains The Influence of Grotius,' by Sir John Macdonell, K.C.B.; 'Grotius in England,' by W. S. M. Knight; The Court of International Justice,' by E. A. Whittuck; Treatment of Prisoners of War,' by G. G. Phillimore and Hugh H. L. Bellot; The Freedom of the Seas,' by Admiral Sir R. Custance, G.C.B.; 'Submarine Warfare,' by RearAdmiral S. S. Hall, C.B.; 'Revision of the League of Nations Covenant,' by F. N. Keen; Disarmament,' by Major David Davies, M.P.; The League of Nations-The Work of Lawyers,' by C. A. McCurdy, K.C., M.P., and other papers. Roscoe on the Admiralty Jurisdiction and Practice of the High Court of Justice. Fourth edition. By EDWARD STANLEY ROSCOE, Admiralty |