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 Reviews of Books company was aware of this use and knew moreover that the boiler had no other ex haust. Without notice to the laundry, and with knowledge of its probable effect, the water company arranged a check valve within the pipe which furnished the boiler water. In due time, the boiler exploded, damaging the building. The Court of Appeal of Cali fornia, in Bowie v. Spring Valley Water Co.,

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97 Pac. Rep. 530, held that defendant was liable for the explosion, and plaintiff could have recovered but for the fact that its com- 1 plaint failed to allege that it was at the time of the installation of the valve using the feed pipe as a vent, and had no other means of relieving the pressure in the boiler, and that defendant was aware of these circum stances.

Reviews of Books LIBERIAN LAW REPORTS Supreme Court Reports, Republic of Liberia, vol. 1. The Boston Book Company, Boston, 1908. FOR the first time in the history of the republic, the reports of the Supreme Judicial Court of Liberia have been issued in book form, the volume including cases de cided between January, 1861, and January, 1907. One of the justices of the Supreme Court, Hon. James Jenkins Dossen, LL. D., has made the compilation under an appoint ment of the President of Liberia, made in conformity with special acts of the Legislature. The judicial department of the Republic of Liberia is vested in a Supreme Court, con sisting of a chief justice and three associates, and lower courts. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction "in all cases affecting ambassadors, or other public ministers and consuls, and those to which a county shall be a party." In all other cases it has appellate jurisdiction "both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Legislature shall from time to time make." In the early days of the republic, Samuel Benedict, the first Chief Justice, and John Day, his successor, rendered decisions, but copies of them have apparently not been preserved. Beginning with 1861, the Chief Justices of the Court have been Boston Jen kins Brayton, E. J. Roye, C. L. Parsons, and Zacharia B. Roberts. This volume of reports is of great interest as showing the attempts of an African court of Negro judges to apply the principles of the common law to questions arising from every day transactions affecting matters of trade and property in an undeveloped country. These principles have been applied in an

intelligent manner, without pedantry and with marked common sense, and the Court seems to have maintained a dignified stand ard of practice. If it has not exhibited the learning of courts in more advanced countries, it has certainly shown great respect for the weight of legal authority in England and America, and has applied principles enun ciated by standard text-book writers in a logical and effective manner. The relatively undeveloped state of the country shows itself in the reports, where one will look in vain for decisions dealing minutely with the complicated problems of modern commerce, yet commercial law is not a subject untouched upon, and a wide scope of subjects, both of public and of private law, has been covered. This volume is made the subject of an article in the Green Bag this month, in which further information with regard to its character and contents will be found. BOOKS RECEIVED Receipt of the following books, which will be reviewed later, is acknowledged:— The Elements of International Law, with an Account of its Origin, Sources, and His torical Development. By George B. Davis, Judge-Advocate-General, United States Army, and Delegate Plenipotentiary to the Geneva Conference of 1906 and to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907. Third re vised and enlarged edition, 1908. Harper & Brothers. The Mystery of the Pinckney Draught. By Charles C. Nott, formerly Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims. The Century Company.