AMERICAN ELECTRICAL CASES
American Electrical Cases; being a collection of all the important cases (exce ting patent cases) decided in the state and fe eral courts of the United States from 1873. on subjects relating to the tele ph, the ‘telephone, electric light and power, eectrical railway, and all other ractical uses of electricity; with annotations. E ited by Austin B. Griffin. of the Albany bar V. ix (1904 1908). Matthew Bender-8: Company, Albany. Pp. viii, ll40+index 47. ($6.)
THE ninth volume of American Electrical Cases contains the reports of two or three hundred cases decided since 1904 in both state and federal courts. By far the greater proportion deal with the law of negligence and have grown out of suits brought for injuries to employees or other persons. Other subjects represented in the collection embrace contracts, eminent domain, muni‘ cipal ordinances, restraint of trade, taxation,
evidence, pleadings, etc. The footnotes digest important doctrines in easily read type, and usefully supplement the headnotes in extract ing the meat of the decisions. Much matter of great importance is embraced in the anno tations. Cross-references to cases and notes in other volumes of the series are introduced. There is a serviceable index which is really a collection of the leading rules laid down in the cases.
EWELL’S MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence, for the Use of Students at Law and of Medicine. By Marshall D. Ewell, M.D.. LL.D. 2d ed. Little. Brown& Co., Boston. Pp. 407 (index)- ($2.50 net.)
HIS is the second edition of a work by the lecturer on medical jurisprudence in the university of Michigan and former president and dean of the Kent College of Law, Chicago. Dr. Ewell states in a preface that the changes in the text have been rela tively few, those having been made which were deemed "necessary to conform to the present state of the science." The book re mains, in fact, an old treatise corrected rather than fully brought down to date. The chapter on insanity, from a medical point of view, has not been brought up to the times. The latest editions of works named in the bibli ography are not mentioned. From the lawyer's point of view, moreover, there are
several subjects, such as legal responsibility for crime, and the punishment of the criminal insane, which might have received more attention. The book retains its usefulness, however, as a short, inexpensive treatise well suited
as a basis for the instruction of students of medicine and law in a subject on which few works exist which are not executed on a larger and costlier scale. The author is a well-equipped specialist. The usual topics are briefly treated: evidence, experts, com pensation, signs, modes and causes of death, personal identity, abortion, infanticide, rape, legitimacy, life insurance, feigned diseases, malpractice, toxicology, insanity, etc.
BOOKS RECEIVED ECEIPT of the following books, which will be reviewed later, is acknowledged : The Old Order Changcth: A View of American Democracy. By William Allen White. Macmillan Company, New York. Pp. 254+appendix 12. ($1.25 net.) Marriage and Divorce. 1867-1906: Special Re arts of the Department of Commerce and La r, Bureau of the Census, S.N.D. North, Director. Part l-Surnrnary. Laws, Foreign Statistics. Pp. xii, 520 + index 15. Part II— General Tables. Pp. vii. 825 + explanatory notes and index 15. Modern Jury Trials and Advocates: Containing Condensed Cases. with Sketches and Speeches of American Advocates; The Art of Winning Cases and Manner of Counsel Described, with Notes and Rules of Practice. By Judge J h W. Donovan. Fourth revised edition, enlarg . Banks Law Publishing Co., New York. Pp. xxi, 719. ($4.50.) Municipal Franchises; A Description of the Terms and Conditions u which Private Corpora tions enjoy Special Privileges in the Streets of American Cities. By Delos F. Wilcox, Ph.D., Chief of the Bureau of Franchises of the Public Service Commission for the First District of New York. (in two volumes.) V. l. introductory. Pipe and Wire Franchises. Gervaise Press. Rochester; Engineering News Book Department, New York, sales a ents. Pp. xix, 662+ bibliography and index 4 . (85.)
NOTES
James L. Tryon. secretary of the American Peace Society, of Boston, has issued a second edition of his leaflet describing “The Interparliamentary Union and its Work." which will be found interesting by those who are following the various phases of the movement for international arbitration.
The "Notable Scottish Trial Series" (William Hodge& Co., London), issued in nine volumes, contains the record of interesting causes célèbres. Special interest attaches to "The Douglas Cause," "The Trial of Deacon Brodie," “The Appin Murder" and "The Trial of Captain Porteous."
The brief proposed by William L. McDonald of 49 Wall street, New York City, attorney for the appellant in the case of Cosmides v. People. on trial in the New York Court of Appeals, is a noteworthy document. The case is a somewhat remarkable one of mistaken identity, and a learned and vigorous argument on the important constitutional questions involved is submitted to the court.
