elude Torts and Crimes. Yet, in truth, the author immediately and wisely for got his rhapsody, for though the study of legal history had not yet possibly progressed so far as to make common the knowledge that the law of Crimes and of Torts is older than the law of Contracts, the author, as a practical lawyer, knew—to quote again his own words—that "a con tract, in legal contemplation, is an agree ment between two or more parties for the doing or the not doing of some particular thing," and further that among "the essen tials of a legal contract" is "the Assent of the Parties, without which there is in law no contract." Without serious departure from scientific ideals, and with the result of making his work extremely useful in practice, the au thor has included almost every topic that is even remotely connected with the narrow subject of Contracts. Among the topics thus treated, sometimes at considerable length, are Agency, Trusts, Guardianship, Corporations, Partnership, Bills and Xotes, Infancy, Coverture, Landlord and Tenant, Sales, Suretyship, Bailments, Patents, Copyright, Trade-marks, Shipping, Insur ance, Conflict of Laws, Estoppel, Damages, Liens, Bankruptcy, and Constitutional Law. From this long list—which might easily be made longer by naming the topics found in all books on Contracts,—it is clear that the work might appropriately be termed an Encyclopaedia of Commercial Law. This encyclopaedic quality has done much towards making the book indispensa ble, and has also caused the task of each editor to be unusually difficult. The editor of the eighth edition, Professor Williston, besides bringing the citations down to date, added elaborate comments which caused the work to. represent the present state of the law of Contracts, from both the schol arly and the practical point of view, as nearly as such a result can be accomplished upon the basis of an old-fashioned text. In the present edition, the effort of the editor
has apparently not extended beyond adding citations of recent cases. Vast as the work is, and wide as was the author's initial conception of the scope of Contracts, there is no considerable treat ment of those obligations implied bv law and enforced in contractual forms of ac tion, which are now discussed by scientific authors under the head of Quasi-Contracts. It is strange that Parsons did not deal with this topic; but the successive editors have done well not to supply the omission, for in truth nothing but harm can come from overlooking the essential distinction be tween obligations founded on mutual assent and those founded otherwise. CITIZENSHIP OF THE UNITED STATES. By Frederick Fan Dyne. Rochester, New York: The Lawyers' Co-operative Pub lishing Company. 190x4. (xxvii+385 pp.) The citizenship of which Mr. Van Dyne treats is Federal citizenship, State citizen ship being outside the province of this book. The subject is dealt with under four general heads—Citizenship by Birth, Citizenship by Naturalization, Passports, and Expatriation. Mr. Van Dyne's long experience as Assis tant Solicitor of the Department of State, in which position he has had to deal with many questions relating to citizenship, has been a fitting preparation for his present work. Perhaps the most interesting chapters are those on Naturalization by Treaty, and on the Attitude of Foreign Governments to ward their citizens who have become natur alized in the United States. In the former chapter are to be found the provisions bear ing on naturalization in the treaties with Great Britain in 1794, with France in 1803, with Spain in 1819, with M-exico in 1848 and !853, with Russia in 1867, and again with Spain in 1898. In the latter chapter is given the summary, compiled by the Department of State, of laws and regulation of the prin cipal European countries, and of Persia, concerning the status of their citizens who have become naturalized here. Of special interest are the questions of the denial by
