practitioner may well wonder why he is told not to 'plead to possession.' Apparently what the author has in mind is a desire to warn the pleader against pleading title by a defendant who is in possession, since reference is made to Order XXI, r. 21, by which a defendant in actions for the recovery of land may put the plaintiff to proof of his title by a plea of possession.

We have also received:

De la Responsabilité des Administrateurs dans les Sociétés anonymes en droit français et suisse. Par ALBERT CALEB. Genève : Phil. Dürr, libraireéditeur à Genève. 1906. 8vo. 186 pp.-This book deals with the duties and liabilities of the Directors of Joint Stock Companies according to French and Swiss Law, both in respect of the proceedings on the formation of a company and in respect of the conduct of the affairs of the company after the completion of the preliminary steps. It also contains short summaries of the rules contained in other systems of law as to the same subject, which, however, are so superficial and incomplete that it would have been better to omit them. The following passage introducing the first summary relating to English law (p. 56) also shows that the author is very careless as to the accuracy of his statements: 'La loi de 1862, . . . a été modifiée et complétée depuis 1864 à 1898. La consolidation de toutes ses lois différentes s'est faite par la loi du 8 Août 1900. . . .' E. S. Der Postcheck. Eine volkswirtschaftliche und juristische Studie. Berücksichtigung der österreichischen, deutschen und schweizerischen Verhältnisse. Von Dr. jur. MANFRED KIRSCHBERG. Leipzig: Verlag von C. L. Hirschfeld. 1906. 8vo. viii and 244 pp.-This book deals with an institution which has been in existence for some time in Austria and which was introduced in Switzerland by a federal statute passed in 1905. By means of that institution it is open to any person to open a banking account with any Post Office and to effect payments by means of cheques drawn on such Post Office. The rules under which the system is worked and the legal questions arising thereon are discussed with Dr. Kirchberg with great lucidity and fullness, and the book also contains some valuable comparative statements as to the law of cheques in the several European countries and in the United States. E. S.

Mit

Fahnenflucht und Verletzung der Wehrpflicht durch Auswanderung. Eine rechtswissenschaftliche und politische Studie zu den Deutsch-Amerikanischen Bancroftverträgen. Von LUDWIG BENDIX. Leipzig: Verlag von Duncker & Humblot. 1906. 8vo. xxx and 540 pp. (Rm. 13.20.)—This book deals with the effect of the so-called 'Bancroft' treaties made in 1868, and relating to the position of emigrants from Germany to the United States and vice versa, who before becoming naturalized in the country of their adoption have evaded the laws as to compulsory military service in their country of origin. It also contains suggestions as to future legislation on the subject. E. S.

Das Strafgesetzbuch für das Deutsche Reich nebst dem Einführungsgesetze. Herausgegeben und erläutert von Dr. REINHARD FRANK. Erste Lieferung. Tübingen: Verlag von F. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck). 1907. 8vo. 176 pp. This is a new edition of one of the best known annotated editions of the German Criminal Code. The arrangement of the notes is excellent and full references are given to the literature of each subject as well as to the judicial decisions relating thereto. The present instalment deals with ss. 1-80 of the Code (the total number of sections being 370).

E. S.

La Loi du Domicile en matière successorale selon la Jurisprudence Anglaise. Par ANDRÉ MARION. Paris: Librairie Nouvelle de Droit et de Jurisprudence Arthur Rousseau. 1906. Royal 8vo. 188 pp. This book, which compares the principles guiding English and French Courts respectively as to the choice of law in relation to the devolution of the personal estate of a deceased person, though not entirely free from mistakes and misapprehensions, is written with a considerable amount of insight and acumen. The observations on pp. 157-181 on the subject of the doctrine of 'renvoi' are of special merit. E. S.

Principles of Mahomedan Law. Second Edition. By D. F. MULLA, Principal and Perry Professor of Jurisprudence, Government Law School, Bombay. Bombay Thacker & Co. 8vo. xii and 152 pp. (Rs. 3.)— Mr. Mulla is already well known as a writer of Indian law books. The work which he has done in this small volume is remarkably good. It is concise, clear, and accurate. The author has followed the system adopted in Sir Roland Wilson's Digest, and has enunciated in numbered paragraphs all the principles of that portion of Mahomedan law which is administered by the Courts in British India. In smaller print he has annexed to each paragraph illustrations taken from decided cases and references to the authorities, and in some instances he has discussed disputed points, and furnished useful notes. The portion of this book relating to the law of Inheritance is especially useful to the student. Besides supplying tables of the sharers and residuaries, showing in the former case the amount of the share, and in the latter the order of succession, Mr. Mulla has set out a large number of illustrations of the division of property.

This book contains in a small compass all that the student of AngloMahomedan law can require. A practitioner would rarely find it necessary to go beyond this work for argument or authorities.

It has also a merit, which is by no means universal in Indian law books. It is well printed and on good paper.

Les Fondations en Angleterre. Par JEAN ESCARRA. Paris: Arthur Rousseau. 1907. 8vo. ix and 422 pp. (10 fr.)-We hope to return later to this book, one of the thorough studies of foreign systems with which the younger French scholars are enriching the professional literature of the Continent. A few slips of the press or pen occur in English names and words, but nothing serious. We have never yet found a continental printer who will believe that there are two r's in the English word 'quarterly.' M. Jean Escarra should be warned that the Mirror of Justices is not a book of authority or even of credit, but he does not appear to have relied on it.

Prescription and Custom: Six Lectures delivered in the Old Hall of Lincoln's Inn during Hilary Term, 1907. By THOMAS H. CARSON, K.C. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1907. 8vo. xix and 150 pp.-A book of elementary lectures printed exactly as delivered. Mr. Carson's wellknown learning as a real property lawyer is ample warrant for the accuracy of the matter. In point of form the constant repetition of such mere lecturer's phrases as 'I ask you to observe,' 'you can see,'' you will recollect,' 'I cannot do better than read to you ...,' is a serious drawback to written style, and to some readers a downright annoyance. Mr. Carson correctly quotes Vaughan Williams L. J. as having said, [1902] 2 Ch. at p. 569, that the law of prescription is based on the convenience of the community, and not on natural justice.' This is a strange saying, for

...

the Schoolmen from Thomas Aquinas downwards regarded natural justice, or the law of nature, as intimately connected with the convenience of the community (communis utilitas), and some all but identified them.

The Law of Private Property in War, with a chapter on Conquest (being the Yorke Prize Essay for 1906). By NORMAN BENTWICH. London : Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1907. 8vo. xii and 151 pp. (68. net.)-We have been able to give only a cursory examination to this little book. So far as we can see, it maintains the high standard of the Yorke Prize essays, some of which have been works of permanent value. It does not, of course, contain any new facts or exhaust the authorities. But it is concise, clear, and rationally arranged; the arguments are sensible; and it avoids the diffuseness and multiplication of irrelevant narrative which disfigure so many modern books on international law. We therefore think it probable that, in spite of being in the strict sense an academical exercise, it may be found really useful.

Elements of the Law of Contract. By A. T. CARTER. Second Edition. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1907. 8vo. xiv and 256 pp. (78. 6d.) -This edition has been carefully revised and posted up. We can find very little about the interpretation of contracts, and that little is lumped in with rules of evidence, which ought to be carefully kept apart, as the difference between rules of law, rules of construction, and rules of evidence is often obscure to students. We still find too many difficult questions treated in an off-hand manner; and we do not like the citation in an elementary book of cases reported only in the Times Law Reports.

The Marine Insurance Act, 1906, 6 Edw. VII, c. 41. By EDWARD LOUIS DE HART and RALPH ILIFF SIMEY. London: Stevens & Sons, Lim. 1907. La. 8vo. xvi and 128 pp. (68.)-The authors of this book are, as editors of the latest edition (7th) of Arnould on Marine Insurance, well' qualified to perform the task they have undertaken. The object of the Act being to codify the existing law, and not to create new law, the efforts of the authors are, for the moment, practically restricted to compiling an annotated edition of it, setting out the source of, and authority for, the law as it is now declared to be in each succeeding section. This they have done with commendable clearness and simplicity, and so laid a solid foundation for future editions, which, owing to the enhancement of their utility as cases under the Act come to be decided, are sure to be called for. In the appendix are to be found the statutory provisions relating to the stamping of marine policies, with which it is well to be quite familiar.

:

Summary of the Institutes of Gaius. By T. RADFORD POTTS, D.C.L. Oxford: Hubert Giles. 1907. 8vo. xii and 247 pp.-This little book is designed for use by candidates for the Preliminary Honours Examination in Law at Oxford. Thus it does not cover the whole of Gaius a fact which much restricts its field of usefulness. It contains a historical introduction, fuller and more exact than is usually found in books of this class, followed by an abstract of the Institutes of Gaius, so far as these deal with Persons, Property, and Obligation. There are many interspersed notes and amplifications, which do not in general touch on the later law. The book seems designed to relieve students of the task of reading the text of Gaius. One who does not think this at all desirable finds it difficult to be just to the book, which is clearly written, and will probably serve its purpose. Tutores impuberes (p. 62) is a very misleading misprint.

The First Year of Roman Law. By FERNAND BERNARD. Translated by CHARLES P. SHERMAN, D.C.L. New York: Oxford University Press, American Branch. 1906. 8vo. xiv and 328 pp.-In its original form this book is intended for First Year Students in French Faculties. It omits the topics of Property and Obligations: the French view seems to differ from that of Oxford as to the subjects which are suitable for such students. The author sets himself a standard both of knowledge and of method rather higher than is suggested by the book above noticed, and he supports his propositions by adequate references to the sources and to modern writers, mainly French, He has not been very well served by his translator, who has fallen into several of the idiomatic pitfalls with which the French language is so well provided. His literalness has sometimes a grotesque result. On the effect of donationes sub modo, he says, 'This controversy of a most delicate nature should find no place here'-owing, no doubt, to the presence of Mrs. Boffin. The proofs have not been carefully read. Many references are faulty, and there are too many things like noctae atticae, ius civili, hunc ago hominem meum esse aio, for a book which has the imprimatur if not the imprint of the Oxford University Press.

The Principles of Indian Criminal Law. An Introduction to the study of the Penal Code. By ERIC R. WATSON. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1907. 8vo. xix and 193 pp. (Net Rs. 5, 78. 6d.)— Mr. Watson, whose experience of the subject has been gained as a lecturer to the Council of legal education at Colombo, and as an advocate of the Ceylon Supreme Court, has put together what purports to be a series of lectures upon the Indian Penal Code, with an occasional reference to the few points in which the criminal law of Ceylon differs from that of British India. He cites a good many Indian cases, and a few decisions of Ceylon Courts, but the latter are not identified by name or reference. Probably this book may be of some use to teachers of Indian law, as collecting together many of the points in the Penal Code which require elucidation, but we cannot conscientiously recommend it either to practitioners or to students. It does not contain the text of the Code, and it does not pretend to be exhaustive. There are many wellknown commentaries on the Penal Code, with which in point of utility to the practitioner this work cannot be compared. Mr. Watson's book contains so much criticism of Mr. Mayne's Criminal Law of India, and so many references to that work, that a student, in order to understand the former book, must possess the latter.

The Indian Law of Arbitration. By M. L. RALLIA RAM, Pleader Chief Court, Punjab, Amritsar. With an introduction by DIWAN CHAND, Judge Small Cause Court. Amritsar. 8vo. 221 pp. (Cloth bound, Rs. 3; stiff covers, Rs. 2, as. 8)- The author has included in this book the Indian Arbitration Act, 1899, and such other portions of the Acts of the Indian legislatures as in any way concern arbitration. He has also cited, as far as we can see, all the Indian decisions on the subject. As in the case of so many Indian law books of this type, very little attempt has been made to digest and collate the cited cases, and there is no attempt to discuss any of them.

The book will be of use to a practitioner who wishes to find the reference to any case dealing with the subject.

Registration of Voters. By M. MOLONEY. Second Edition. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1907. 8vo. ix and 261 pp.-This book is intended as a practical guide for overseers in the preparation of the lists of electors.

It contains minute and clear directions for the execution of all the duties of an overseer, assistant overseer, or town clerk in this connexion, together with all the forms necessary and information as to Registration expenses, and the procedure in Registration Courts. The book is not intended for lawyers, and the various qualifications for the franchise are only stated with so much precision as would be necessary for the proper execution of his duties by an overseer. The Revising Barrister may require to refer to statutes and cases, but a bare statement of the law should suffice for an overseer. The vexed question of the latchkey voter is sufficiently dealt with, and no overseer need go wrong if he follows Mr. Moloney's very clear directions.

Trade Union Law. By HERMAN COHEN. Second Edition. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1907. 8vo. xiv and 198 pp.-A new edition of this little book was necessitated by the passing of the Trade Disputes Act, 1906, which has altered the law as laid down in many important cases. These are referred to throughout the text, although the places where they are reported can only be found by reference to the table of cases.

Amongst the enactments set out, and for the most part annotated, are the Act of 1906, the Trade Union Acts, 1871 and 1876, the Employers and Workmen Act, 1875, and the Conciliation Act, 1896. The Appendices contain the rules under the Employers and Workmen and Trade Union Acts, and a number of forms.

A Practical Analysis of the Public Trustee Act, 1906. By T. W. MORGAN. London: Stevens & Haynes. 1907. 8vo. viii and 47 pp. (18. 6d.)— The Public Trustee Act without the Rules is of very little use, since they may and probably will be more important than the Act itself, seeing that they are to prescribe, amongst other things, the trusts or duties of the public trustee, the transfer of property to and from him, and the accounts to be kept. If and so far as an analysis of the Act, a reprint with sparse notes, and an index can be of any use, no doubt this publication can lay claim to that merit.

The Accounts of Executors and Trustees, with Specimen Register,' 'Ledger,' and accounts for the residuary legatees, next of kin and others. By PRETOR W. CHANDLER. Two vols. London: Butterworth & Co. 1906. La. 8vo. Vol. I, iv, 65 and 5 (index) pp.; Vol. II, xii and 81 pp. (108. net.)—The Preface states that this work has been undertaken at the suggestion of the Council of the Law Society, the object being to explain how the accounts of executors and trustees should be kept. Every item in the accounts is dealt with seriatim, being traced from the Register to the appropriate account in the Ledger. The account is then distributed amongst the beneficiaries, and suitable accounts are prepared for a residuary legatee.' The book will no doubt be very useful to solicitors.

Paterson's Licensing Acts, with Forms. By WILLIAM W. MACKENZIE, Eighteenth edition. London: Butterworth & Co.; Shaw & Sons. 1907. 8vo. lxxxi, 794, and 120 (index) pp. (158. net.)-Editions of Paterson' succeed each other so rapidly that the work will soon be classed among the annual legal publications. All the more important recent decisions on licensing law appear to have been duly noted in the text, and a report of Kennedy J.'s decision in Ashby's Cobham Brewery Co., Lim., is given in full in the Appendix.

Sweet & Maxwell's Lawyers' Reference Book. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Lim. 1907. 1907. La. 8vo. 78 pp. (28. 6d.) This book contains