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Professor Dicey for maintaining that the Habeas Corpus Acts were of greater importance than the Petition of Right.

It is to the student of parliamentary procedure that this monograph will be of especial interest. To be sure, we are told in the preface, "In the history of parliamentary procedure, the Petition of Right is unique; it has no precedent, it has never served as one;" yet that does not decrease its interest. Miss Relf's contribution to our knowledge is contained in her explanation why the Commons went by petition instead of by bill, rather than in her estimate of the historical importance of the Petition. A. H. Sweet.

Cases on Future Interests and Illegal Conditions and Restraints. By Albert M. Kales. West Publishing Company, St. Paul. 1917. pp. xxvi, 1456.

Professor Kales has very modestly described his case-book as a revision of parts of Mr. Gray's collection. But it is much more than a revision. It is in a sense a completion of the task which Mr. Gray began a rounding-out of his analysis and a development of his historical presentation. The additions make it distinctively Mr. Kales' own case-book, and they insure its ready acceptance by both law-teachers and future interests practitioners. The new arrangement of the cases on contingent remainders, for instance, affords an excellent basis for getting behind some of the legalistic conceptions which have long stood in the way of growth in the law of that subject. The new chapters on such troublesome topics as the alienability of contingent remainders and powers in life tenants to dispose of the fee, are invaluable as guides through some of the neglected "soft spots" of future interests. The suggestions of needed legislation on various subjects should stimulate students' interest. They indicate Mr. Kales' appreciation of the need of a thorough-going functional survey to bring the law of future interests into line with recent developments in other branches of law.

The more recent cases are taken for the most part from Illinois reports, and some of the more important of them are the handiwork of Mr. Kales's own advocacy. If any criticism is to be made of the collection, it would be of its localization. But in many respects this is a merit and not a defect. Illinois has recently had a more interesting development of the law of future interests than any other state. And no other branch of the law lends itself more readily to the local case-book, compiled for such a course in the law of a single jurisdiction as Mr. Kales has long advocated. Local editions of this case-book dealing with the law in various states would make it possible for Mr. Kales' idea to be tried out in our law schools, and it is to be hoped that they will be forthcoming. Manley O. Hudson.

Handbook of Criminal Procedure. By Wm. L. Clark, Jr. Second edition by William E. Mikell, B.S., L.L.M., Professor of Law in the University of Pennsylvania. Hornbook Series. West Publishing Company, St. Paul. 1918. pp. xi, 748. During the time since 1895, when the first edition of this work was published, there have been innumerable statutory revisions of the Criminal practice and many adjudications upon the subject in the

various States of the United States. This has made it essential to bring the book down to date, that it may be, at the present time, of practical value as a text book upon the subject. Professor Mikell has accomplished this result in an admirable manner by changes in the text, by additions to and amplifications of the text and by numerous citations of the recent cases in different jurisdictions.

This work is not a comprehensive practice book of Criminal Procedure for any one jurisdiction, nor can it be used as a digest of the subject. It is rather a general compilation of the principles, both statutory and as enunciated by adjudicated cases, of this highly technical branch of the law. That is to say, it is a work of more practical value to a student of the law than to the practitioner, as it gives in clear language the elementary principles upon this subject, rather than the details and intricacies of the statutory procedure of each particular jurisdiction.

An idea of the completeness with which the book covers its field may be shown by a rough outline of the topics, viz: jurisdiction, apprehension of the person and property, preliminary examination, bail, commitment, mode of accusation, time of prosecution, pleading, proof, arraignment, pleas of the defendant, trial and verdict, proceedings after verdict and evidence.

The work is well arranged in a usable book containing a complete table of cases and a carefully prepared index.

E. M. St. John.

The Law and Practise in Bankruptcy. By Wm. Miller Collier. Eleventh Edition by Frank B. Gilbert. Matthew Bender & Company, Albany. 1917. pp. cxxvi, 1671.

A new edition of a standard work is always welcomed, especially by those who have the good fortune not to have a preceding edition. The latest decisions are cited, and, in a work based on a statute, the latest amendments also.

These remarks are apropos of Collier on Bankruptcy because it is a book of both law and practice. The fact that it is now in its eleventh edition in twenty years is at least presumptive evidence that its publication has been worth while, and that it has been and is the standard authority on the subject, especially for practitioners in the state of New York.

It is worthy of note that the Bankruptcy Law was not amended from June 25, 1910, until March 21, 1917, and on the latter date only in one respect, in section seventeen, by inserting an additional class of liabilities not affected by a discharge in bankruptcy, namely, liabilities "for breach of promise of marriage accompanied by seduction." This amendment seemed necessary because of decisions that a liability for breach of promise of marriage, even when accompanied by seduction, was canceled by a discharge in bankruptcy, most liabilities based on moral obliquity having been theretofore excepted from the application of the statute.

It is also noted that section 25b is in effect superseded by acts of Congress of 1915 and 1916, further limiting, in bankruptcy cases,

appeals to the Supreme Court. The two changes mentioned seem to be the only ones since the edition of 1914.

But the eleventh edition has distinctive value. The incorporation in the text and notes of over two thousand decisions rendered by the courts, and reported, since 1914, was accomplished by much rewriting and necessary amplification.

The table of cases cited is made of increased value and convenience by showing the book and page of the report of each case in addition to the page reference in Collier; a feature not in the previous edition.

The synopsis or index to the text following each section of the statute has in numerous instances been much amplified and subdivided. The text also has been correspondingly arranged in more paragraphs, with subject titles to each.

These changes and improvements are all time-savers to the busy lawyer having occasion to use the book.

In these days of great multiplication of books it is gratifying to see co-operation of editor and publisher in keeping down the thickness of the book and the number of pages. The result is a volume of much greater contents and comparatively few more pages than in the tenth edition. This has been accomplished by slightly closer lines and type, which ordinarily would not be noticed and which has not impaired legibility.

The whole work is an example of good printing and good editing.

A Treatise on the Law of Conversion. By Renzo D. Bowers. Little, Brown, and Co., Boston. 1917. 1917. pp. lx, 583.

Mr. Bowers tells us that no work on conversion exists, "further than short cyclopaedic discussion." His volume, bulkwise, is more than cyclopedic: it cites a multitude of cases, and is several times as long as the article on Trover and Conversion in Cyc. It misses being cyclopedic in quality through containing not more but less of analysis and conclusion than the typical article in a law encyclopedia. One begins by wondering how a work which cites more than 6,000 cases can spend so little space on footnotes. The explanation is that the notes consist almost wholly of citations, while the text is filled with quotations and abstracts most of which a writer with something of his own to say would have relegated to footnotes or omitted. There is insufficient analysis and practically no criticism. "It is contended", "the proposition has been espoused", "it has been held", except for occasional positive statements of what the law is, Mr. Bowers seldom predicates anything more violent or more helpful. As a digest, the book is probably adequate, but it is no treatise. It is a pity that it is permitted to sail as such under the colors of Little, Brown, and Co.

Workmen's Compensation Law Journal, Vol. I, No. 1. Edited by William Otis Badger, Jr. C. C. Hine's Sons Company, New York. 1918.

Under the above title a new publication has made its appearance with the year 1918. This Journal will bring together in each issue the reports of all decisions rendered in workmen's compensation cases

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in the federal courts and in the appellate courts of the states. men's compensation statutes have been enacted now in so many states that a very important body of case law is bound to develop in this field. Particularly is this true since the decisions last year of the Federal Supreme Court, declaring constitutional the various forms of workmen's compensation acts adopted in New York, Iowa and Washington. It will undoubtedly be very convenient for employers, employes, commissions, legislators and students to have available in one publication all of the decisions interpretive of the various forms of compensation acts, and the publishers and editor should find ready support for their new Journal.

A Treatise on the Law of Personal Property. By James Schouler. Fifth Edition. Matthew Bender & Company, Albany.

American City Progress and the Law. By Howard L. McBain. Columbia University Press, New York.

Lemuel Shaw, Chief Justice of Massachusetts, 1830-1860. By Frederic H. Chase. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York.

Public Service Companies. By N. C. Collier. F. H. Thomas Law Book Company, St. Louis.

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