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The Green Bag.

bia College. Baker, Yoorhis, & Co., New York, 1891. 2 vols. Law sheep. £12.00. This work of Professor Keener's is most admira bly adapted for the purpose for which it is designed, being a combination of text-book and leading cases. To the student it will prove a veritable boon, as in a single work he has before him not only an able ex position of the principles of the law governing con tracts, but also a full exemplification of the manner in which those principles have been applied. The great difficulty which besets the student of law is not the acquiring of the rules and principles upon which the law is grounded, but it is the being able to appre ciate and understand the application to be made of them in any given case. If, when a principle is thoroughly mastered, the student can at once be shown just how that principle has been applied in a variety of cases, then the whole matter becomes firmly and deeply rooted in his mind, and he is pre pared to meet similar questions when they may arise in practice. This, as we understand, is just what Professor Keener seeks to accomplish in this work. At the beginning, two chapters are devoted to the rules governing " The Formation of Contracts " and "The Matter of Contracts; " then follow a numlx;r of leading cases to which these rules have been applied. Then come more rules, followed by more cases, and so on. With such a work to aid him, any diligent student ought to become thoroughly imbued with both the principles and their application. We think the author made a mistake in not entitling these Selections as arranged for the "profession" as well as for law students, for certainly they will prove almost as useful to the experienced practitioner as to the beginner. The Code of Civil Procedure in North Caro lina, with Notes and Decisions to December, 1 89 1, with the Rules of the Supreme and Supe rior Courts, and the adjudications thereon. By Walter Clark, LL.D. Edwards & Broughton, Raleigh, N. C, 1892. Judge Clark has given to the profession of his State a work which will prove eminently useful, and in fact almost invaluable, to every lawyer practising in North Carolina. While the work is essentially a local one. it will be appreciated by lawyers in other "Code States, as enabling them to have the North Carolina decisions at hand for comparison. Being a Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge Clark is unusu ally well fitted for the preparation of such a work. Commentaries on Equity Pleadings, and the Incidents thereof, according to the Practice of the Courts of Equity of England and America.

By Joseph Story, LL.D. Tenth edition. Re vised, corrected, and enlarged, by John M. Gould, Ph. D. Little, Brown, & Co., Boston, 1892. Law sheep. $6.00. For more than fifty years this admirable work on Equity Pleading has maintained its reputation as, perhaps, the best book published on the subject. The profession have fully appreciated its merits, and edition after edition has been necessary to meet the demands for it. In the present edition the aim has been, considering the increase of decisions in recent years, especially in the Federal Courts, to adapt this standard treatise to all the needs of modern practice, as well in the States which have a Code procedure as in those having a distinct system of equity. Some idea of the vast amount of work involved may be gained from the fact that some nineteen hundred new cases are now cited in addition to the twentysix hundred cases cited in the ninth edition. The publishers have been fortunate in securing the ser vices of such a thorough, painstaking, and conscien tious writer as Mr. Gould, for the revision of this work. That he has done his part faithfully is evi dent; and the treatise, in its present form, is far more valuable than ever. The Probate Laws of Massachusetts, with Notes of Decisions (including the Legislation of 1891, and Cases in Vol. CLI. of the Massa chusetts Reports). By William E. Fuller. Published by George B. Reed, Boston. Law sheep. $6.00. This work of Mr. Fuller's will prove of great value to the legal profession in Massachusetts, being far more comprehensive than any work on the subject which has preceded it. From the author's long ex perience with Probate practice, he is eminently fitted for the preparation of such a book. Aside from the mere citation of statutes now in force, and the de cisions applicable to them, Mr. Fuller has scattered throughout the work many valuable " Remarks," which will be read with interest, and which contain a vast amount of important information and sugges tion. For instance, on page 35 is given an Historical Elucidation of the Massachusetts Statute of Descent, and the departure from the English law of primo geniture, citing (probably for the first time) from original archives, the Henry Phillips Case. On pages 345, 347, a history is given of the Origin and Development of the Powers of the Probate Court in Massachusetts. Altogether the work is, perhaps, the most important local treatise yet published, and it cannot fail to be appreciated by every lawyer in Massachusetts

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