Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 12.djvu/383

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HARVARD LAW REVIEW.
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REVIEWS. 363 tion of forms of recognized standing or sustained by actual adjudication, so comprehensive in selection that he will find a precedent substantially "on all fours," whatever his case, whether money lost in a " bucket shop," or a through contract with a railroad over connecting lines. The formal requisites of pleading, so far as they are more than merely local, the desig- nations of persons in their official or particular characters, and the neces- sary allegations of capacity to sue and be sued in the various actions form an important part of the work. The index is scant, but the general divi- sion, the details of arrangement, and the careful and complete annotation are admirable. In all, the book bids fair to become a standard work of reference. Although it is especially adapted to the New York Code of Procedure, and the codes which imitate it, the collection is prepared also with a view to the revised practice in some of the common law states. Doubts naturally arise whether the ground is not too wide, whether it would not be better covered by a series of compilations, whether the common law prece- dents will not tend to confuse. These questions must be settled by the final test of the work, its service to the active practitioner for whom it was intended. j. p. c, jr. A Trustee's Handbook. By Augustus Peabody Loring. Boston : Little, Brown, & Co. 1898. pp. xxix, 191. This work is not the hasty compilation which handbooks often prove to be. From beginning to end it is the product of careful thought. In handling his subject the author discusses no theory, but aims at stating in brief, positive sentences the established rules of the law. Where juris- dictions differ the fact is noted and generally the different views are set forth. The scope of the book, however, forbids comparing the merits of the respective theories. The plan of the book embraces the treatment of the law regarding the appointment of the trustee, the powers he may exercise, and the burdens he bears. The manner in which he should care for and invest the trust property is dealt with, and the circumstances under which he may be removed. The work also includes the rights of the beneficiary, both as against the trustee and as against strangers. Finally, there is a short chapter on the " interstate law ; " such questions as arise where the trustee is non-resident or where the property is out of the jurisdiction. Refer- ences are given for nearly every proposition, — a fact which makes the book valuable to the practitioner. The author is accurate in his statement of the law ; and, while in many situations the only safe course for a trustee is to consult a responsible lawyer, yet as regards the general duties of his position he may safely rely on this book. G. b. h. 47