practically demands both great knowledge, and wide experience. Mr. Palmer possesses both these qualities in a high degree, and the result must be eminently satisfactory not only to lawyers, but to the larger class, for whom he has also written, of business men. The Author does not hesitate to give his opinion on controverted and doubtful points, and to criticise judgments, even those of the House of Lords. As an instance, we may refer to his discussion on the decisions on the difficult questions of the binding force of regulations, both between the company and the members, and the members inter se, in which doubt is cast on the authority of so great a judge as Lord Cairns. The important principle that a company is a person is duly emphasized, and we find pointed out "the legal quagmire into which the neglect of this principle may conduct even the most learned judges." This is an allusion to the well-known Saloman's Case, with the decision in the House of Lords, in which case Mr. Palmer cordially agrees. The doubt of Cozens Hardy, J., in Consett Iron Co. is not agreed with, and a large number of cases are given in which the Court had sanctioned "an alteration which introduces a series of new objects in modern form instead of the old objects." The Author also disagrees with Lord Lindley's decision in Bartlett v. Mayfair Property Co., on the question of the power of a company to mortgage its reserve capital. We are glad to see that once more the epithet gross as applied to negligence is deservedly criticised. It is worth noting Mr. Palmer's opinion on the important question, which has yet to be decided, as to whether breach of the requirements of sect. 10 of the Companies Acts 1900 gives the subscriber a right to rescind. He thinks that "the misstatement of a material fact will, of course, give a right of rescission, but where the breach consists in the mere omission to state some fact which ought under this section to be stated, and the omission to make that statement does not falsify that which is stated, it will probably be held that there is no right of rescission." There is a very clear description of the objects sought by the conversion of businesses into private companies, and the advantages thereby obtained. We could wish Mr. Palmer had discussed the curious case of Laxon & Co., to which he refers more than once rather satirically. We think there must be some misprint in page 147, where "sect. 61, 62 of the Act" are referred to in connection with the personal liability of directors on contracts. We presume the Act means the Companies Act 1862, and we cannot see what the sections referred to have to do with the matter.

CONTEMPORARY FOREIGN LITERATURE.

I. Diritti sulla Propria Persona nella Scienza e nella Filosofia del Diritto. By DR. ADOLFO RAVA. Turin: 1901.

A thesis for the Doctorate in the University of Rome. Its gist is the limits of individual right, the potestas in se ipsum. It is Mill on Liberty from the point of view of a jurist. The authorities are reviewed, the earliest and most interesting being the Tractatus de Potestate in se ipsum of the Spanish jurist Balthasar Gomez de Amescua (Milan, 1619). Among other questions discussed by Dr. Ravà are suicide, vows of chastity, marriage of the insane and diseased, and the legality of the pound of flesh contract in the "Merchant of Venice." The author's conclusion is that modern systems of law in their protection of the individual are apt to lose sight of the protection of society.

La Ragione ed il Contenuto del "Tort" nel Diritto inglese. By DR. MARIO SARFATTI. Turin: 1902.

This is a thoughtful comparison of the English and Italian law. of tort, unfortunately in places disfigured by bad printers' errors in transcribing English authorities, such as "Nothingham," "New Harlston Collinies Co. v. Earl of Westmorband," etc. One of the main differences is that English law, eminently individualistic-to use Dr. Sarfatti's phrase-does not visit the parents with the torts of their infant children, while Italian law recognises the collective responsibility of the household, its chief being the official who is legally liable.

De Abrogation de l'Article 1715 du Code Civil. By DR. MARIO SARFATTI. Turin: 1902.

In this small brochure Dr. Sarfatti makes an excursion into the French Code. He would have § 1715 replaced by § 1217 of the Italian Code, on the ground that arrha ought to be sufficient proof of delivery without confirmatory verbal evidence. This would do away with the necessity of admission of the oath of the party, allowed by 1715 as against a bailee who denies the fact of delivery.

PERIODICALS.

Journal du Droit International Privé. Nos. V-X, 1902. Paris.

The sketches of the English death-duties by M. Jobit and of the Russian bar by M. Pergamainte of Odessa, will be found interesting by English readers. From the latter we learn that its present organisation is quite modern, dating only from 1864, that a distinction is drawn between sworn and unsworn advocates, and that both kinds alike can sue for fees, whether under special contract or implied liability of the client. Russia appears again in the article on her extradition law by Professor P. Kazanski of Odessa. M. Paul vander Eycken gives an account of the Chambres Arbitrales d'Avocats at Brussels, and sets out their rules of procedure. They seem to have been called into existence in emulation of the commercial tribunals of arbitration at Antwerp. The Belgian Bar evidently does not see why laymen should have all the good things in arbitrations. In England we have reached the Antwerp stage in our large commercial cities; it may be that some day we shall attain the Brussels stage. The review contains the usual valuable digest of decisions in the Courts of various nations.

Deutsche Juristen-Zeitung.

1 July-15 Sept., 1902. Berlin.

At page 314 is a discussion of the German law that publichouses are to be opened later and closed earlier on Sundays and holidays. The law appears to be much less definite in its terms than the provisions of the Licensing Acts dealing with the component parts of the United Kingdom. In particular, the writer notes that the bonâ fide traveller (the English phrase is used) has no rights in Germany. Curiously enough, a few pages later, at page 361, another writer objects to the importation of foreign words and the coining of new German words in German law books. The number of September 15 is chiefly occupied by a report of the proceedings of the Deutsche Juristentag at Berlin in August. It also contains a dedicatory poem by Justizrat Albert Träger, the concluding line of which is worth remembering by lawyers of all lands :

"Für Recht und Wahrheit kämpfen die Juristen."

A very interesting sketch of the history of the Juristentag is given. It met for the first time at Berlin in 1860, and has met every year

since-except during the stormy periods of 1866 and 1870-in some important town in Germany; only twice in Austria. Portraits of Presidents of the Tag, past and present, will be found on a loose leaf. Among them the English reader will recognise inter alios the great names of Bluntschli, Brunner, von Gneist, and von Holtzendorff.

Zeitschrift für Internationales Privat-und Öffentliches Recht. Nos. XI, XII. 1902. Leipsic.

These numbers, besides their inherent interest, will be found useful as containing in a convenient form various important documents, especially the Suez Canal Treaty, the Nicaragua Canal Treaty, and the new Naval Code of the United States. There is a good deal of matter of interest to English and American readers. The decision in the Paquete Habana (175 U.S. 677) is reported at length and discussed. At page 111 is the report of a Hamburg Court, to the effect that an Englishwoman resident, apparently not domiciled, at Hamburg, may sue in formâ pauperis in a Hamburg Court. The ground of the judgment is reciprocity, that such a right would be competent to a German resident in England. A paper on the position of consuls by M. Schina, of Bucharest, gives authority for the fact-not generally mentioned in text-books-that a semisovereign State may nominate consuls. The Danubian Principalities seem to have done this continually from 1833.

Rivista di Diritto Internazionale e di Legislazione Comparata. April-June, 1902. Naples.

The most noteworthy matters in this volume are an article by Professor C. E. Huberich on patria potestas in Slavonic law, and a decision of the tribunal of Naples that while a consul is liable to an action in his commercial capacity, he is entitled to such privileges as to notice of action, etc., as the law of Italy allows to representatives of foreign powers. Moreover, no order can be made to produce his official papers.

La Giustizia Penale. 16 June-22 Sept., 1902.

Rome.

Many matters of interest to the student of comparative law are to be found in this well-conducted fortnightly magazine. At p. 785 is a decision that a contractor who delegates part of the work to a sub

contractor is not liable for the negligence of the latter, a statement considerably wider than can be found in the English authorities. Profit to the thief is not a necessary element in larceny. It may be larceny though the value of the thing stolen be infinitesimal, as in this case, a few growing grapes (p. 817). Where a man writes a letter containing a false pretence, and afterwards follows it up by a personal call, the letter being sent and the call made in different jurisdictions, the judge of either jurisdiction is competent to try the offender (p. 965). It rather offends English professional ideas to find in its pages the advertisement of a Studio Legale, a kind of bureau which undertakes appeals in criminal cases, and offers intending appellants the services of experienced counsel at a moderate figure.

JAMES WILLIAMS,

Books received, reviews of which have been held over owing to pressure on space:-Leake on Contracts; Commonwealth Statutes, Vol. I; Van Zyl's Judicial Practice of South Africa; Saunders' Practice of Magistrates' Courts; English Reports, Vol. 21; Thwaites' Guide to Criminal Law; Watson's Law of Cheques; The Modern Lawyer's Office; Willis's Contract of Sale of Goods; Ringwood's Principles of Bankruptcy; Brentano's Origin of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong; Carleton's Rheims and the English Bible; Reeson's Gas and Water Acts; Carter's Elements of Contract; Scholefield and Hill's Private Street Works Act, 1892; Boulton's Law and Practice of a Case stated; Brooke Little's Law of Burials.

Other publications received:-Natal Law Quarterly (Wildy & Sons); Report of the Hamburg Conference (International Maritime Committee); John Bull's Guinea-pigs (Bradley & Co.); The Humane Review.

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