rather late in the day to call attention to de fects; but by and by the publishers may find it practicable to bring out a revision combining in one alphabet the matter of all these volumes, and accordingly it may be worth while to point out that in some respects the plan and the execu tion might be advantageously amended. It would be a great convenience to have the titles subdivided into sections dealing sepa rately with marine, fire, life, and other sorts of insurance. At present most of the titles disre gard any such division. Further, the titles are not very happily chosen; for though most of them are unobjectionable, some are neither ne cessary nor natural. Finally, there are many, very many, paragraphs that are not placed under the existing titles to which they belong. The title " Valid and Void Policies " affords examples of these defects. The first paragraph is to the effect that a fire policy is not invali dated by the fact that part of its subject matter is fitted, and perhaps intended, for unlawful purposes. The second paragraph is to the effect that a life policy taken out by the person whose life is insured is not invalidated by the fact that the beneficiary or assignee has no in terest in the life. The third paragraph is to the effect that, in the absence of fraud, a fire policy is not invalidated by the fact that part of the goods described did not belong to the assured. The fourth paragraph deals with beneficiary certificates. Thus the title goes on, jumping from one kind of insurance to another, and from one class of problems to another, in a way that wastes the time of the investigator and that makes it quite impossible for him to foresee whether the matter for which he is seeking is to be expected in this title or elsewhere; for of course it is obvious enough that each one of the paragraphs described above belongs in one or more of the familiar titles — some of which are found in this series and some not — " Illegality of Business," " Insurable Interest," " Bene ficiaries," " Assignees," "Non4lisclosure," "Title," " Benefit Societies." In fact, the title "Valid and Void Policies" should not exist at all save as a basis for cross-reference to other titles. Yet although it is necessary to call attention to the fact that neither plan nor execution is perfect, justice requires a recognition that even
in its present form this series is one of the most useful sets of tools in the insurance lawyer's workshop. What has been said thus far is chiefly from the point of view of the maker of briefs. From the point of view of the writer of treatises it must be added that by gathering all the authori ties this series relieves the author from the necessity of crowding his text and notes with citations, and gives him ample opportunity to devote his pages wholly to their special function of stating and explaining the law. Thus the series is fairly entitled to commendation of the sort that Falstaff bestowed upon himself: "I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men." A TREATISE ox CANADIAN COMPANY LAW.
BY W. y. White, Q.C. assisted by J. A. Ewing, B.C.L. Montreal, Canada; C. Theoret, 1901. (xxiii + 708 pp.) Naturally this treatise is intended, in the first instance to meet the needs of the Canadian practitioner. It deals in the main with the Canadian Companies' Act (chapter 119 of the Revised Statutes) and is an interpretation of and commentary upon that Act. Consideration, however, is given to similar acts of the other provinces; the appendix contains the text not only of the Companies Act of the Dominion, but of like acts of the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. Of practical value and convenience are the forms relating to Dominion Letter Patents, given in fifty pages of the appendix. Canadian jurisprudence on the subject of corporation is not very extensive; but many questions of importance have arisen and have been passed upon by the courts in decisions en titled to respect and weight. In this volume all of the leading Canadian cases bearing on the subject in hand have been referred to and care fully considered. The authors have given their subject able and exhaustive treatment, with the result that this treatise both explains the Companies Act so far as it has been interpreted already by the Canadian courts, and considers in a suggestive way, points not as yet passed upon directly. The arrangement of the book is good, following that of the act itself, and the style is clear.
