nal research and investigation upon which, if comparisons are well made and distinctions finely drawn, the value of a treatise so largely depends.
The lawyer may make use of this work as the traveller makes use of a guide-book. It will lead him to mines of information, but into them, if he must know the .truth as to what they contain, he must delve. Whether there is any need or demand for such a work is questionable, as the whole subject seems to be fully covered by the late editions of "Benjamin on Sales" by Mr. Bennett A. E. M.
Black on Tax-Titles. A Treatise on the Law of Tax-Titles, Their Creation, Incidents, Evidence, and Legal Criteria. By Henry Campbell Black. St Louis, Mo. : Wm. H. Stevenson, 1888. 8 vo. pp. xxix, 452.
As the law of tax-titles " rests exclusively upon a statutory basis," it is rather difficult to present a treatise on tax-titles which shall not be a mere digest of statutes. This would obviously be a useless task and one which could not be accomplished within reasonable limits. The aim of the author, therefore, has been to point out the general features which the statutes of the several States have in common, and to discuss the main common-law questions arising out of the subject-matter. This he does clearly and less elaborately than his only competitor in the field, Blackwell, the fourth edition of whose work appeared in 1875. Mr. Black's book can be used to advantage only with an open statute book beside it Its chief value lies in the fact that it traces the line of development of the law to the present day. As the author states in his preface, "the last half has witnessed the most important and radical changes introduced both through the action of legislative bodies and the interpretations of judicial tribunals in the law governing this subject." At one time such was the strictness of the law and the disfavor with which tax-titles were looked upon, that "a tax-tide was no title at all," but more recently the courts and legislature have done much to give greater security to the holders of such tides.
B. G. D.
Essentials of the Law, Vol. III., Comprising the Essential Parts of Pollock on Torts, Williams on Real Property, and Best on Evidence. By Marshall D. Ewell, M. D., LL. D., Professor of Law in Union College of Law, Chicago. Boston : Charles C. Soule. xvi and 243 pp.
In this, as in the preceding volumes of the series. Prof. Ewell has aimed to give a comprehensive abstract of the books selected ; and he has met with admirable success. The books chosen need no comment; they are generally recognized as standards. The work of abstracting them has been done with excellent judgment; and the result is the more valuable from the fact that the exact words of the original authors have been retained as far as possible, the more important passages being printed in heavier type. To one who wishes a rapid, but at the same time thorough, review of these subjects, this little volume will be found very valuable. It is to be regretted that the desire to get as much as possible into a small compass has led the publishers to use type which though clear is still too small to be read for any length of time without effort, thus marring an otherwise excellent book.
G. P. F.
