Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 13.pdf/309

 Rh

278 NEW LAW BOOKS.

THE LAW OF TORTS. By Melville Madison Bigelow, Ph.D. Seventh Edition. Boston. Little, Brown and Company. 1901. Buckram. It is not at all surprising that a legal work by so thorough a scholar as Dr. Bigelow should have reached a seventh edition. His attain ments in legal literature are solid and have long since given him place among those men of note who are referred to by the last name merely, — a genuine and respectful tribute to their fame. Thoroughness of preparation is the domi nant and constant impression one gets in reading the works of this learned author. This impres sion results not more from substance than from style. The terseness and exactness of Dr. Bigelow's style appeals commendably not merely to the lay reader, but to the experienced and wellread lawyer, whose professional reading brings him constantly in contact with language in which clearness is the one necessary element of style. Indeed, in the work under consideration, so un remitting, apparently, has been our author's search for the right word in the right place, that the very limits of common usage are now and then strained. For instance, " procedural " is not set down in Webster or Worcester, yet the adjective becomes eminently useful to the author in classifying rights as either of substantive or of " procedural law," and, while " voluntaryism" has been generally thought of as an ecclesiastical term, yet Dr. Bigelow properly enough finds it useful in distinguishing purely voluntary action from acts in which moral or official duty is an element. The first edition of " The Law of Torts for the Use of Students " appeared in 1878, and successive editions have been published in 1882, 1886, 1891, 1894 and 1897, the present year marking the appearance of the seventh, now entitled " The Law of Torts " merely. The au thor has in this edition made some changes in classification. Part I is entitled " Lawful Acts done by Wrongful Means or of Malice," and Part II, " Unlawful Acts." Part III treats, as before, of Negligence, or, as now entitled, "Events caused by Negligence." This classifi cation has been carefully explained in the valu able statement of the general theory and doc trine of torts, which well repays most careful

study. In two of the three classes the breach of duty is the result of that sort of act the legal result of which is the infringement of right coin cident with the breach of duty, and whether the effect of the act,— the breach of duty and the coincident infringement of right,— may or may not have been intended, still such cases are commonly said to be cases of intention. Part I treats of such breaches of duty as are lawful acts done either by wrongful means, which is always presumptively unlawful, or of malice, which in certain cases is presumptively unlawful. Part II, treating of acts which are in themselves presumptively unlawful. In the third class of cases, the breach of duty is committed by an act or an omission, and while, according to our au thor's analysis, every act or omission as a thing of consciousness is intended, still, in this class of torts, the effect is not intended. Herein lies the domain of negligence. An event has taken place which has been caused by negligence and is therefore presumptively unlawful. Part I. accordingly, embraces the titles of De ceit, Slander of Title, Malicious Prosecution, and Maliciously Procuring Refusal to Contract, as comprehending lawful acts done by wrongful means or of malice. In Part II, are found Se duction, Slander and Libel, Assault and Battery, False Imprisonment, Conversion, and the other well-known titles coming under the head of breaches of absolute duty. As the result of recent decisions the " Malici ous Interference with Contract " has been divided into two chapters, Maliciously Procuring Refusal to Contract, which as before stated has retained a place in Part I, and Procuring Breach of Con tract, which is placed in the class of unlawful acts. In Part III, Negligence is treated. To the student of law one of the most diffi cult subjects is that of malice, and we are glad that Dr. Bigelow in this last edition has treated this subject as a special topic of discussion in his excellent statement of the general theory and doctrine of torts. A careful study of his analysis and the cases cited to support the doctrine enun ciated will carry the student to the root of the matter, if anything will. The seventh edition is enough more compre hensive in scope and detail to make the posses sion of the work desirable, even to those who already have earlier editions in their libraries.