lions render the volume useful to students; but the needs of students are certainly not unduly emphasized; for example, from their point of view the discussion of the Statute of Uses is disproportionately short, whereas from the point of view of practitioners this discussion accurately corresponds to the present importance of the subject. Indeed, here is a book that any one, whether be ginner, practitioner, or teacher of law, can read with unusual satisfaction. COMMENTARIES ON THE LAW OF TORTS. By E. B. Kii'kcad. San Francisco: BancroftWhitney Company. 1903. Two volumes. (xxx+1739 pp.) As the title page calls this voluminous work "a philosophic discussion of the general principles underlying civil wrongs ex dclicto," an obvious comment is afforded by the fatal discovery—if the table of cases is to be trusted—that the author is apparently unac quainted with three extremely pertinent cases of the highest consequence and great est fame, namely Lumley v. Gye, 2 E. & B. 216 (1853). Allen v. Flood, 1898. A. C. i, and Quinn v. Leathern, 1901, A. C. 495. The work is not useless, nevertheless; for al though the author in his preface insists that this is a philosophic treatise and not a digest of cases, he happens to be wrong on both points, and the result is that the profession can find here a respectable guide to deci sions—especially to those of recent date. The practitioner, but not the reviewer, may forgive the author for describing his work, both on the title page and in the preface with unwarranted grandiloquence. HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF IOWA. By B. F. Shambaiigh, Professor of Political Science in the University of Iowa. Des Moines: The Historical Department of Iowa. 1902. (vi-(-3S2 pp.) For the lawyer, this enthusiastic account of the origin and development of govern ment in Iowa has at least one chapter of unusual interest. This is the account of the Squatter Constitutions—those rather inartis
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tic and wholly extra-legal regulations where by the early settlers of a neighborhood pro tected one another in the possession and ul timate purchase of lands upon which, in defi ance of the laws of the United States, they had made their homes before sale by the United States, and .possibly before survey, and in some cases even before the Indian title had been extinguished. All forms of extra-legal law are valuable as suggesting the reasons for the creation of government and for the recognition of property; and these Iowa regulations have uncommon claims upon the lawyer because of their com pleteness and because of their probable in fluence, as pointed out by Mr. Shambaugh, upon the provisions of the Preemption and Homestead laws. ч THE AMERICAN STATE REPORTS Vols 93 and 94. Containing cases of general interest and authority decided in the courts of last resort of the several States. Selected, re ported and annotated by A. C. Freeman.. San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney Com pany. 1903, 1904. (1066, 1047 pp.). In the earlier of these volumes the cases selected from recent reports in fifteen States cover even a wider range of subjects than is usual in volumes of this excellent series. The following topics are treated in the more im portant monographic notes: Constitutional Inhibition against Special or Local Legisla tion where a General Law can be made Applicable; Jurisdiction of Equity to put Party in Possession in aid of its Decree; Extent to which a Litigant may Control a Cause in which he has Appeared by Attorney; Expulsion of Trespasser; Lia bility to Corporations of Subscribers to their Capital Stock; Liability for Malicious Prose cution of Civil Action; Mode of Taking Ad vantage of Breaches of Conditions Subse quent; Liability of Physicians and Surgeons for Negligence and Malpractice; Prescrip tive title to Water; Liability of Persons Com municating Contagious or Infectious Dis eases to Others; and What Contracts with Newspapers are against Public Policy and therefore Void.
