Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 9.djvu/520

492 HARVARD LAW REVIEW, very thoroughly before laying down propositions, has greatly improved on this otherwise Procrustean method. The novel result is a combination of what is best in several systems, of discussions not only smooth and perspicuous, but readable and attractive, and of peculiarly felicitous propositions and terse, pertinent abstracts, the whole treated in a manner agreeable, and with a decided charm of its own. In substance, too, this work, helpful alike to students and practitioner, forms a notable addition to the valuable series of which it is the latest. Mr. Sedgwick's knowledge of his, one might almost say, hereditary sub- ject, is of the widest, and his recognition of the scope of a work of this character is thorough and well sustained. It is in no sense an abridg- ment of the exhaustive " Sedgwick on Damages," but a treatment based on very different considerations, with other purposes in mind. One is not, perhaps, ready to . assent to all that is said ; but even where Mr. Sedgwick's views do not convince, they fail, not through his shortcomings, but through their own inherent weakness. The undesirable distinction between recovery of consequences in contract and tort is, it would seem, somewhat overstated, in view of the case of Welch v. Anderson, 6i L. J. (n. s.) Q. B. 167, while the author's adherence to the doctrine of exem- plary damages might well be thought unfortunate. The topical arrange- ment of the work, moreover, is too conservative, rather unscientific, and not particularly happy for the student's purpose; but these possible blemishes should avail little when weighed in the balance with its many positive virtues. d. a. e. The Law of Collateral and Direct Inheritance, Legacy, and Succession Taxes. By Benj. F. Dos Passos, late Assistant District Attorney, New York County. Second edition. St. Paul, Minn. : West Publishing Co. 1895. 8vo, pp. xxii, 654. Five years ago the first edition of this work was published, and it speedily became the standard treatise on a subject of constantly growing importance. Inheritance tax laws have since been enacted in seven more States. As a result, there is much new material, all of which is incor- porated in the present volume. The appendix contains a valuable col- lection of statutes. r. g. d. American Electrical Cases, with Annotations. Edited by William W. Morrill. Albany: Matthew Bender. 1895. Vol. IV., 1892-1894. 8vo, pp. xxvi. 911. The work of collecting all the leading American cases which deal with electricity in its practical uses has now been brought nearly up to date. This volume, like its predecessors, is admirably arranged for reference, and with them constitutes an exceedingly valuable series. Nowhere else can one find the law of the telegraph and the street railway so con- veniently set forth. R. G. d. The Green Bag. Vol. VII., 1895. Boston : The Boston Book Co. The latest bound volume of this clever law magazine has the same general appearance, both within and without, as had the previous volume. The high tone of its articles is maintained, and its sketches of courts, biographies of jurists, and general legal miscellany make it as interesting and amusing to the profession as ever. h. c. l.