COMPARATIVE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW. An Analysis of the Administrative Systems, National and Local, of the United States, England, France and Germany. Vol. 1, Organization; Vol. II, Administration. By FRANK J. GOODNow, A.M., LL.D. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893.

It was with great pleasure that we received the first work in English on the important subject of Administrative Law. As a people we seem to have been heretofore so taken up with establishing popular government that we have neglected to regard, as worthy of special treatment, the question of how the officers of government should execute the laws or how the officers should be held up to their work. Mr. GOODNOW makes a very good beginning. As he says himself, in his preface, he has not attempted to treat the subject exhaustively. His intention has been to set forth in the first place the methods of administrative organization adopted in the four countries whose law is considered; namely, the United States, England, France and Germany; and to state, in the second place, the means of holding this organization up to its work, and of preventing it from encroaching on those rights which have been guaranteed to the individual by the constitution or laws.

The first volume treats of the question of the organization of the administrative departments of the central and local governments; and the second volume of the way in which the individual can obtain redress for wrongs inflicted upon him by the administrative officer.

The whole forms an excellent introduction to a more particular study of the subjects treated. As is the intention of the author, at no point is the discussion full and exhaustive. and, therefore, the interest which the work will excite in the minds of the readers will depend largely upon his previous acquaintance with the particular subject under discussion. For instance, where the author treats of mandamus, what is said is very good, but it is necessarily too cursory to be of interest or of value to the lawyer. On the other hand, few lawyers will fail to be interested and benefited by the short and concise account of the administrative courts of France and Germany. It is not that the discussion is any more full in the one case than in the other, but that in treating of administration in continental countries, he treats of something which is entirely new to ninety-nine hundredths of the members of our bar. In the same way the local administrative government of Germany and France is intensely interesting, while most lawyers will skip the account of the office of President of the United States.

It must be remembered that we are reviewing the book simply from the standpoint of a lawyer, and not from that of the general reading public. To the lawyer the book as a whole would be more interesting if the author had confined himself to administration in the foreign continental countries, that is, France and Germany. This, however, would have marre its usefulness in colleges, into which it will doubtless be largely introduced; both because it is the only English work on Comparative Administrative Law, and as an excellent introduction to the more minute study of the subjects treated.

W. D. L.

A TREATISE ON THE WRIT OF HABEAs Corpus, with PRACTICE AND FORMS. BY WILLIAM S. CHURCH. San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney Co., 1893.

As far as the writer knows the only other work exclusively devoted to this subject is Judge HURD's Treatise, the last edition of which appeared in 1876. Mr. CHURCH'S book was first published in 1884. Since that date considerable change has been effected in the law of the writ of habeas corpus, particularly in the Federal Courts, by the passage of the Appellate Courts Act of March 3, 1891, which fact, together with the large number of recently decided cases on the subject, render a fresh appearance of the work particularly acceptable.

Two new chapters have been added; one on the "Nature of the Writ," the other on Appellate Practice." The former, which begins with an elaborate definition of the writ, serves as an excellent introduction to the succeeding chapters, embracing almost the entire general treatment of the subject, with the exception of the historical side. The chapter on "Appellate Practice" is a useful if not necessary addition to the work, treating fully of the nature of an appeal in habeas corpus cases, as well as sumarizing the instances under which the appeal can be taken.

By no means the least interesting and important feature of the treatise is the writ historically considered. The author admirably traces his subject from the Roman interdict "De libero homine exhibendo" through Magna Charta to the famous statute of Charles II. To this subject he devotes a chapter. Continuing, he gives us the general history of the writ in the colonies and subsequently in the United States, and adds a separate chapter containing the more important Federal statutes.

The work concludes with a convenient collection of the various forms used in the habeas corpus proceedings from the petition to the return, as well as miscellaneous forms.

The author's style is much to be admired. It is clear and exceptionally intelligible even to the lay mind, and for that reason none the less valuable to the professional man. The discussions are liberally and aptly illustrated, and plentifully supplied with references and notes. Ti notes on the chapter devoted to the evidence are especially of value. We wish we could say as much for the physical structure of the work as its literary character unquestionably deserves.

A thousand pages are too many to be crowded into one volume, especially in the case of a text-book, which, more than any other book, a lawyer finds occasion to take home with him. Besides, the lack of durability of very thick books is familiar to all lawyers. The work should have been divided into two volumes. The printing, too, is thin, and at times indistinct, although the headings, with which the sections are distinguished, are clear enough. A list of more than 3000 cases is appended.

W. S. E.

LECTURES IN SANITARY LAW. By A. WYNTER BLYTH. London and New York: MacMillan and Co., 1893.

This work contains twelve lectures on Sanitary Law delivered by the author at the College of State Medicine, England, as a part of the usual course of instruction in Sanitary Law and Science; and while not directly applicable to the condition of things existing in this rountry, it is interesting and valuable to all cultivating this branch of jurisprudence. To members of State legislatures and to aldermen and health officers in our cities, it would be invaluable, could they be persuaded to read it, as embodying the experience of an old and enlightened State and affording valuable suggestions for legislation in this country.

MARSHALL D. EWELL,
The Kent Law School of Chicago.

Boston: Little,

THE LAW Of Contracts. By THEOPHILUS Parsons, LL.D. Eighth edition. Edited by SAMUEL WILLISTON. 3 vols. Brown & Co.

Professor PAKSONS' already valuable work is rendered additionally valuable by the copious accurate and clear notes added to this edition by Mr. Williston, of Harvard. It is singularly appropriate that the work of the man who did so much to establish the reputation of the Harvard Law School should be edited by a member of the present faculty of that School. Mr. Williston has left the text practically untouched, save for certain slight omissions rendered necessary by recent changes and developments of the law of contracts; he has also retained the greater part of the author's original notes, omitting only certain extracts from the opinions in various cases which have ceased to be of authority; he has, however, discarded the notes of all previous editors with the exception of a few by Mr. Keller, editor of the seventh edition, to which, in every instance, his initial is attached. The author's notes are printed in parallel columns while the notes of the editor extend across the page, so that it is at once apparent to whose authority cach note owes its weight. While Mr. Williston's notes are throughout clear, accurate and learned, they are especially full in the first part of the work, that devoted to consideration of the obligation assumed by the parties-the notes upon Agency, Bills and Notes and Consideration being more especially copious, valuable and scholarly. He has carefully avoided the common temptation of annotators to indulge in controversial writing, and while in every case where the text is ambiguous, or through a change in the law has become misleading, the doubt is cleared away or the error corrected, the notes remain notes upon the original work and not a series of controversial essays. The modern cases have been exhaustively examined and their effect clearly stated. In short, the whole work shows care, learning and respect and reverence for the author's work, and is a very useful and able exposition of the result of modern cases upon the subject matter.

F. H. B.

RAILWAY INJURIES, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THOSE OF THE BACK AND NERVOUS SYSTEM IN THEIR MEDICO·LEGAL AND CLINICAL ASPECTS. By HERBERT W. PAGE, M.A. (Reprinted from Wood's Medical and Surgical Monographs.) New York: William Wood & Co., 1892.

The above-named work is one well known to both the legal and medical professions and its merits are such as to need no commendation at our hands. To one investigating a case simply of “railway spine" it is indispensable.

MARSHALL D. EWELL,

The Kent Law School of Chicago.

THE AMERICAN DIGEST (Annual, 1893). Prepared and edited by the Editorial Staff of the National Reporter System. St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co., 1893.

The Digest of the West Publishing Company is too well known by the profession, and its great usefulness has been too often illustrated to the thousands of lawyers who possess it to need any commendation from us. The volume before us, containing more than three thousand pages, is what it pretends to be, a complete digest of all the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, all the United States Circuit and District Courts, the Courts of Last Resort of all the States and Territories and the Intermediate Courts of New York State, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Colorado, besides the United States Court of Claims and the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. The arrangement, the system of cross-reference, etc., is excellent. Nothing seems to have been omitted which could aid the rapid finding of cases. One cannot but admire the organization and system which in the short space of six weeks edited and printed such an enormous tome. There is only one thing which the possessor of a series of these annuals will need as time goes on, and this want will undoubtedly be supplied by the enterprising company which has done so much for the profession. Many of the cases are reported in the National Reporter System long before they appear in the official reports. As a necessity, therefore, the reference to the official reports is frequently omitted, because the case is not yet reported. In a few years, however, one looking over the Digest will need a supplement containing the official citations of those cases reported in previous numbers of the Annual, aud to which no official citation is attached.

To us this Digest is invaluable. It has the great merit-the greatest, perhaps, which any book can have-of doing well what it starts out to do.

W. D. L.

LECTURES IN SANITARY LAW. By A. WYNTER BLYTH. London and New York: MacMillan and Co., 1893.

This work contains twelve lectures on Sanitary Law delivered by the author at the College of State Medicine, England, as a part of the usual course of instruction in Sanitary Law and Science; and while not directly applicable to the condition of things existing in this country, it is interesting and valuable to all cultivating this branch of jurisprudence. To members of State legislatures and to aldermen and health officers in our cities, it would be invaluable, could they be persuaded to read it, as embodying the experience of an old and enlightened State and affording valuable suggestions for legislation in this country.

MARSHALL D. EWELL, The Kent Law School of Chicago.

THE LAW Of Contracts. By THEOPHILUS Parsons, LL.D. Eighth edition. Edited by Samuel Williston. 3 vols. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

Professor PARSONS' already valuable work is rendered additionally valuable by the copious accurate and clear notes added to this edition by Mr. Williston, of Harvard. It is singularly appropriate that the work of the man who did so much to establish the reputation of the Harvard Law School should be edited by a member of the present faculty of that School. Mr. Williston has left the text practically untouched, save for certain slight omissions rendered necessary by recent changes and developments of the law of contracts; he has also retained the greater part of the author's original notes, omitting only certain extracts from the opin ions in various cases which have ceased to be of authority; he has, however, discarded the notes of all previous editors with the exception of a few by Mr. Keller, editor of the seventh edition, to which, in every instance, his initial is attached. The author's notes are printed in parallel columns while the notes of the editor extend across the page, so that it is at once apparent to whose authority cach note owes its weight. While Mr. Williston's notes are throughout clear, accurate and learned, they are especially full in the first part of the work, that devoted to consideration of the obligation assumed by the parties-the notes upon Agency, Bills and Notes and Consideration being more especially copious, valuable and scholarly. He has carefully avoided the common temptation of annotators to indulge in controversial writing, and while in every case where the text is ambiguous, or through a change in the law has become misleading, the doubt is cleared away or the error corrected, the notes remain notes upon the original work and not a series of contro versial essays. The modern cases have been exhaustively examined and their effect clearly stated. In short, the whole work shows care, learning and respect and reverence for the author's work, and is a very useful and able exposition of the result of modern cases upon the subject matter.

F. H. B.