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Under the form of rules, Judge Benjamin has prepared for the use of students a most admirable work u| on this important subject. Clear and con cise, this manual will be of the greatest assistance to those commencing the study of the law, and the practitioner will also find it a work of much value. The author has been peculiarly successful in the statement of his propositions and in his citation of authorities. The wonder is that he has been able to condense so much law into so limited a space and at the same time give so comprehensive a treatment of a subject covering so broad a field. The work should be placed in the hands of every law student in the country. The Law of Husband and Wife. By Lelia J. Robinson, LL.B. Lee & Shepard, Publishers, Boston, 1889. $1.00. In the compilation of this little book Miss Robin son has designed it for popular as well as professional use. A general outline of the laws defining the mutual rights of husband and wife is clearly and succinctly given, and a vast deal of valuable infor mation is condenssd into the seventy-two pages com posing the text. Abstracts of statutes in all the States concerning the law of husband and wife are added. In addition to its intrinsic merit this work possesses an additional interest from the fact that it is written by the woman through whose efforts the Legislature of Massachusetts first passed a bill giving women the right to practise law in our courts; and she herself was the first woman admitted to the bar in this Commonwealth. Lawyers' Reports Annotated. Book IV. Law yers' Co-operative Publishing Co., Rochester, N. Y., 1889. $5.00 net. The fourth volume of this series is an additional evidence of Mr. Desty's excellent v/ork. His anno tation is thorough and exhaustive, and his selection of cases leaves nothing to be desired. The index ing, as heretofore, is a feature of the Reports, and cannot fail to be appreciated by those who are fortu nate enough to possess this series. American State Reports, Vol. IX. Bancroft, Whitney & Co, San Francisco, 1889. $4.00 net. We can add but little to what we said in our No vember number concerning this most excellent series of Reports. The high standard of the previous vol umes is fully maintained in the present one. The cases are admirably selected, and show that good judgment and discrimination which characterize all of Mr. Freeman's work; and the profession may congratulate itself that it can procure at a com

paratively small price such a valuable collection of Reports. Celebrated Trials. De Witt Publishing House, New York. $2. 00. Under this title the publishers have bound to gether in an attractive volume some of the most celebrated American trials. Among them are " The Forrest Divorce Case," " The Trial of Hon. Daniel E. Sickles for shooting Philip Barton Key," " The Trial of Albert W. Hicks, the Pirate," etc. All the evidence and arguments are given in full, and the reports contain much that was suppressed in the newspaper accounts at the time. A Swiss Thoreau. By Caroline C. Leighton. Lee & Shepard, Publishers, Boston, 1889. 50 cents. This is a brief sketch of Henri-Fre'denc Amiel, who was born at Geneva in 1821. He is said to have been the original of " Langham " in Mrs. Humphrey Ward's " Robert Elsmere." In his life and tastes he strongly resembled our own Thoreau; hence the title of this little work. The sketch is exquisitely bound and printed. The Student's Series of English Classics: Web ster, Macaulay, Coleridge. Leach, Shewell, & Sanborn, Publishers, Boston and New York, 1889. These first three volumes of a series of English classics designed for students are edited, respectively, by Louise Manning Hodgkins, Veda D. Scudder, and Katherine Lee Bates, all of Wellesley College. In a condensed form the life of each of these distinguished writers is given, to which is appended one or more of his best known works. Not only to students but to the general reader this series will prove of value and interest. The biographi cal sketches are well written, and the selections accompanying them well chosen. The Tartuffian Age. By Paul Mantegazza, translated by W. A. Nettleton. assisted by Prof. L. D. Ventura. Lee & Shepard, Publishers, Boston, 1889. $1.35. This is one of the most amusing and entertaining books that we have read for a long time. The author handles the hypocrisy of mankind without gloves, and lays bare the shams and deceits of so-called fashionable society of the present day in a manner which, while highly entertaining, convinces the reader that there is, alas! altogether too much truth in his assertions. The translation is admirably done, and the book is one that will be widely read.