BOOK NOTICES.
LAW.
Studies in the Civil Law. By William Wirt Howe of the New Orleans Bar. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1896. Cloth, $2.50; Law sheep, S3.00 net. This volume is made up of a series of lectures de livered by Mr. Howe before the law school of Yale University. They are written in an interesting manner, and give the student an excellent insight into the history of the civil law and its relations to the law of England and America. The Law of Passenger and Freight Elevators. By James Avery Webb. The F. H. Thomas Law Book Co., St. Louis, 1896. Law sheep. Mr. Webb has collected and classified all the cases to date bearing upon questions relating to passenger and freight elevators. The subject is one which is growing in importance, and this little book will be found valuable as containing all the law thus far laid down by the courts. The Jewish Law of Divorce. According to the Bible and the Talmud, with some reference to its development in post-Talmudic times. By David Werner Amram, M.A., LL.B., of the Philadelphia Bar. Edward Stern & Co., Phila delphia, 1896. Mr. Amram is well known to our readers through a series of valuable papers upon the Jewish Law which he has contributed to The Green Bag. This work on the Jewish Law of Divorce was suggested to the author by the trial of a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church for marrying again after a divorce from his first wife, because of her desertion.. The views taken by the Church on the subject of marriage and divorce led Mr. Amram to inquire into the Jewish Law as found in the Bible and Talmud, and this vol ume is the result of his investigation. The work is in terestingly written, and contains a fund of valuable information. The Judicial Murder of Mary E. Surratt. By David Miller De Witt. John Murphy & Co., Baltimore. Cloth. Whether or not the reader views the trial and exe cution of Mrs. Surratt in the same light as Mr. DeWitt, he cannot but admit that the author makes out a strong case. For our part we have always considered the execution as utterly uncalled for and by no means necessary to satisfy the demands of justice. The book is very interesting and well worth reading.
Jurisdiction, Practice, and Peculiar Jurispru dence of the Court's of the United States. By Benjamin Robbins Curtis, LL.D. Second Edition, revised and enlarged by Henry Childs Merwin. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1896. Cloth, $2. 50; Law sheep, $3.00 net. Mr. Merwin has added several new chapters and many new paragraphs to Judge Curtis's admirable work, and students and practitioners will find this new edition fully up to date and in every respect a most valuable text-book upon the subject of which it treats. The Elements of the Law of Torts, for the use of students. By Melville M. Bigelow, Ph. D., LL.D. Sixth Edition. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1896. Cloth, $2.50; Law sheep, $3.00 net. There are few law students who are not familiar with " Bigelow on Torts." The work is in everyway excellently adapted to the student's needs. This edition has been carefully revised, many passages re written, and it is in its present form of greater value than ever. A First Book of Jurisprudence for Students of the Common Law. By Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart. Macmillan & Co., New York, 1896. Cloth. Si. 75. Although this work is modestly addressed by the au thor to beginners in the study of the law, it possesses rare interest for those more advanced in the profession. It is in fact, as is to be expected from its distinguished author, the best exposition of the science of the law which we have ever seen. We advise every one of our readers to procure and read it without delay. Commentaries on American Law. By James Kent. Fourteenth Edition. Edited by John M. Gould, Ph.D. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1896. Four vols. Law sheep. Si 4.00 net. This masterpiece of Chancellor Kent has become as famous as " Blackstone's Commentaries," and will ever stand as a monument of marvelous legal achieve ment. It is worthy of note, says the editor, that in the preparation of this edition, notwithstanding the rapid development and extension doctrine in our growing country, the statements of this jurist, though long since made, have rarely been found criticised or curtailed in final decisions. The publishers have been fortunate in securing the services of Mr. Gould, as editor of this new edition. His work is always ex haustive and thoroughly reliable. Some idea of the ex
