Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 21.djvu/720

Copyright in Books: An Inquiry into the Origin and an Account of the Present State of the Law in Canada. A Lecture delivered before the Law School of Bishop's College at Sherbrooke. By S. E. Dawson. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. Pp. 40, with Appendix.

This is a very instructive address, by one who is well up in copyright erudition. The account of the origin of copyright is particularly excellent, while the exposition of the present state of copyright law and practice in Canada, and how the policy of the home Government has borne upon the British Provinces, will be of interest to all who are concerned about this subject.

It is curious to note how the first institution which was invested with the control of publication in England, by which authors' rights in their books were protected, was established as a means of maintaining religious orthodoxy. The Stationers' Company, which, like all the other ancient trading guilds, had existed from the middle ages, received a chartered extension of its powers "to search out and destroy" books printed in contravention of the company's monopoly, "or against faith and sound doctrine." On this point Mr. Dawson observes:

No record exists of authors' rights having been claimed for more than one hundred years after the invention of printing. There was no restriction in printing books, any more than there had been in copying manuscript hooks. Every printer printed what he chose, without let or hindrance from any person. At the end of that period, however, the enormous power of the press became manifest. The stir of thought which produced the Reformation had been caused, and was kept up, by the art of printing; and when Philip and Mary came to the throne of England they set themselves to stem the tide of innovation. For that purpose they incorporated the Stationers Company by royal charter for licensing and regulating the printing and sale of books, and they vested in this company a monopoly of multiplying copies. The preamble to the charter sets forth its object. It reads: "Know ye, that we, considering and manifestly perceiving that several seditious heretical books, both in verse and prose, are daily published, stamped and printed, by divers scandalous, schismatical, and heretical persons, not only exciting our subjects and liege-men to sedition and disobedience against us, our crown, and dignity, but also to the renewal and propagating very great and detestable heresies against the faith and sound Catholic doctrine of Holy Mother the Church, and being willing to provide a remedy in this case," etc.

A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Skin. By Louis A. Duhring, M. D., Professor of Diseases of the Skin in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Dermatologist to the Philadelphia Hospital; Consulting Physician to the Dispensary for Skin Diseases, Philadelphia; Author of the "Atlas of Skin Diseases," etc. Third edition, revised and enlarged. J. B. Lippincott & Co. Pp. 684. Price, $6.

A third edition of this excellent work having been called for, the approbation of the profession must be taken as determining it to rank as one of the standards of medical literature. The plan of the work is that of a practical treatise, which, while making no pretension to being exhaustive yet comprises sufficient to afford a clear insight into the elements of dermatology, and a knowledge of the important facts in connection with each disease treated of. The progress of dermatological science, in both its physiological and pathological aspects, has been very rapid in recent years, which makes indispensable the frequent revision of works on skin-diseases. The second edition of this work was accordingly carefully rewritten and much extended. The third edition has also been critically revised, and brought sharply up to date. The chapter on the anatomy and physiology of the skin has been rewritten and elaborated, this change being demanded by the recent studies in microscopic anatomy. The book as a whole has also been considerably enlarged. Numerous additions in the way of cases illustrating rare forms of disease, new and important observations, personal experience, and therapeutical information, will be found upon almost every page.

Errors in the Use of English. By the late William B. Hodgson, LL. D., Fellow of the College of Preceptors and Professor of Political Economy in the University of Edinburgh. American revised edition. Pp. 246. Price, $1.50.

There are few things to be done in this world that can not be overdone, and among the things that can be studied out of all proportion to their importance are the exquisite niceties and transcendental refinements of language. The danger of excess here is, however, because a high standard of excellence is justly demanded. Dr. Hodg-