Revim's of Books have been no negro problem. His comments on the interrelation between the religion and the customs of India are most illuminating. His analysis of the origin of caste, however, is not searching enough to explore the mysteries of that racial spirit of which religion is merely the expression. To what would such an inquiry lead? is it not possible that the peculiarly speculative and elaborately ceremonial character of the Brahmin religion sprang originally from the superstitious veneration of an ignorant inferior race for an enlightened conquering one? If so, the ethnological factor may have more ultimate importance than the religious factor. The laws of Mann receive so great an amount of attention because the author looks to them for light on social conditions in the third century. The document examined is the Manava~dharma-shastra. In the interpreta tion of this document Manu is portrayed as a humane legislator, and we are informed
that the most drastic penalties directed to be imposed for infractions of the moral code are not penalties which were actually exacted, as the crimes were too rarely committed,
but were merely picturesque threats inserted to give rhetorical emphasis to the heinousness of various forms of sacrilege. Mr. Ketkar thinks that a like purpose animated some of the Old Testament lawgivers, and that their
code of laws was not so cruel as one naturally infers.
At all events, Manu is held up before
our eyes as one too benign to sympathize with the caste system in its more extreme phases. While he pictures a society in which there are four leading castes he does not preach the doctrine of a multitude of sub castes, and Mr. Ketkar does not hold him responsible for that growth of caste in its more pernicious forms which has come largely since the promulgation of the laws of Manu. The author shows his familiarity with the history and literature of India, and his work exhibits careful research in fields inaccessible to Western scholarship. He shows himself, however, without a profound knowledge of the Western literature of comparative social science, neither is he always sufficiently cautious in advancing original opinions or in criticising the views of others on subjects which have received ripe scholarly discussion. His intellectual keenness and painstaking industry afford basis for the hope that he may yet learn more accurately to measure his own
535
powers, which are considerable but not fully disciplined. If he can do this, notable paths
of achievement await his exploration. THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGACY TAX The Legacy and Succession Tax of Massachusetts. By Elisha H. Brewster. Little, Brown 8: Company, Boston.
(82 net.)
HIS book contains the text of the Massa chusetts direct inheritance tax and a discussion of the questions of constitutional law and interpretation which have arisen under it. It contains an appendix of forms and an excellent index. The taxation of inheritances on any considerable scale in Massachusetts is comparatively recent. The decisions under our statute are few. The author has accurately analyzed those decisions and has given an illuminating statement of the questions that have so far arisen. In addition, he suggests questions which have arisen in other jurisdictions and cites their decisions. He is apparently not as familiar with the practice of the ofi'ice of the Tax Commissioner as with the decisions of the courts or he would have mentioned the fact that it has not been his practice to tax shares in foreign corporations owned by resident decedents,
although
our courts have held
that the certificates are properly taxable within the jurisdiction under the direct property tax. This, however, probably is a result of political considerations which a lawyer would not anticipate. The book will be needed by all who deal with inheritances until more decisions of our court justify a fuller treatment.
NOTES Sturgis& Walton Co. announce that they will publish this autumn a book to be entitled "Famous
Impostors." It is written by Bram Stoker, the well-known novelist and biographer of Sir Henry
Irving.
Mr. Stoker will present various types
of swindlers, pretenders and humbugs of inter national reputation. The book promises to be a very diverting and dramatic study in human
gullibility. One of the recent publications of the New York State Library is "Bibliography 47" (Bulletin 464) which contains a revised list of medical serial pub lications, compiled by Ada Bunnell, and also a bibliography of medical jurisprudence. by W. Burt Cook, Jr. The former is an up-to-date m vision of a list first printed in 1905. The latter is a classified index, arranged under leading topics, of books and periodical articles in the State Library, relating to medical jurisprudence and related topics. The late C. H. Monro's translation of the Digest of Justinian is a scholarly piece of work which will
