the close of Reconstruction, and among the incidents described are the Chicago Fire, the Tweed Ring, the Rise of the Liberal Party, the Ku-Klux Klan, Black Friday and the Treaty of Washington.
The complete novel in the March issue of L1pp1ncott's is "A Tame Surrender," by Capt. Charles King. Departing from this author's usual field, the purely military, it deals with the Chicago strike, the riots and their suppression, and the loves of a United States lieutenant and a high-minded young lady who works a typewriter. It is her "tame surrender," after long resistance, which gives the tale its title.
The Century's " Life of Napoleon " has caught the popular fancy in a most surprising way, and copies of the magazine have been hard to get unless purchased within a few days of issue. "With each installment," says the "Critic" of March 2, "the value and thoroughness of the work becomes more mani fest." The present revival of interest in Napoleon has been only a lucky coincidence for The Century, as Professor Sloane's history was projected, and its pub lication in 1895 decided upon, long before there was, even in France, any unusual interest in the character of Bonaparte. No question is more interesting or more important to the future of the human race than that of heredity, which forms the subject of an article by St. George Mivart in the March Harper's Magaz1ne. The writer opposes the Darwinian theory of natural selec tion, of which Professor Weismann is the chief advo cate, and adopts the theory of Darwin's predecessor, Lamarck, that living organisms are changed by their surroundings, and that they transmit to their off spring the characteristics so acquired. This theory, Mr. Mivart contends, settles the whole question.
BOOK NOTICES. LAW. Half a Century w1th Judges and Lawyers. By Joseph A. W1llard, clerk of the Superior Court pf Massachusetts. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York, 1895. Cloth. $1.25. No man has more friends among the legal profes sion than the genial clerk of the Superior Court, and no one has had a more 1ntimate acquaintance with the Bench and Bar of Massachusetts for the past fifty
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years than he. This book of reminiscences and anecdotes therefore possesses an unusual attraction for the legal fraternity in New England, and will be read with almost equal zest by every lawyer in the country. It is written in an easy conversational style, and Mr. Willard evidently knows how to tell, as well as appreciate, a good story. Some of the anecdotes have been heard before, but they bear repeating, while many of them are entirely new. We wish we had time and space to give our readers a taste of some of the good things the book contains, but they will find a perfect feast provided for them by Brother Willard, of which they should partake at the earliest opportunity. Commentar1es on the Law of Insurance. In cluding life, fire, marine, accident and casualty, and guaranty insurance in every form as deter mined by the courts and statutes of England and the United States. By Charles F1sk Beach, Jr., of the New York Bar. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York, 1895. Two vols. Law sheep. $12.00. The scope of this work covers almost every con ceivable question likely to arise under the law of insurance. Mr. Beach appears to have prepared this treatise with more than ordinary care, and gives us a very clear and concise statement of the present law of insurance. So far as we can judge from such examination as we have, given the work, it is admir ably adapted to the practitioner's needs. Consider able space is given to the discussion of disputed questions by the courts, and to an attempt to differ entiate and distinguish cases apparently in conflict. Handbook of Equ1ty Jur1sprudence. By Nor man Fetter. West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minn., 1895. Law sheep. $3.75. This is the latest addition to the "Hornbook Series" published by the West Publishing Co. for student's use. Mr. Fetter has succeeded in making a dry subject attractive and at the same time giving a very lucid statement of the principles which under lie and govern this important branch of the law. Students will find the book a valuable assistant in their study. Rules of Ev1dence as Prescribed by the Common Law for the Trial of Actions and Proceedings. By George W. Bradner. Callaghan & Co., Chicago, 1895. Law sheep. $5.00 net. In this treatise Mr. Bradner demonstrates the possibility of treating even such a broad subject as
