tant cases in full, while those reported in abstract are to contain a clear, intelligent and concise statement of the facts. The plan of reporting cases in abstract was adopted some years since in a series of reports, titled "The Reporter," which enjoyed a large support from, and was approved and complimented by members of the bar throughout the United States. Upon the completion of a volume in monthly issues the perma nent bound volume will follow, containing official citations. The monthly advance sheets (not to be returned for binding), permanent bound volume with official citations, and expressage, all for the mod erate price, $5.50. The design of these reports is excellent, and judging from the initial numbers, Mr. Gardner will make them of great value to the profes sion.
THE TRUE DOCTRINE OF ULTRA VIRES IN THE LAW OF CORPORATIONS. Being a concise presenta tion of the doctrine in its application to the powers and liabilities of private and municipal corporations. By REUBEN A. REESE, of the Colorado Bar. T. H. Flood & Co., Chicago, 1897. Law sheep. $4.00 net. The purpose of this volume, as stated in the preface, is "to set forth in a concise and practical way the established principles of the Doctrine of Ultra Vires in its application to the acts and contracts of corpora tions both public and private." In the preparation of this work some 4,000 of the latest and most im portant decisions of the higher courts of America and England have been examined and are cited. " The propositions laid down and the principles deduced from these adjudications are, in the main, stated in the exact language of the court; and where courts a're in conflict respecting the proper application of the doctrine to the different phases of corporate acts or contracts, the author has not shirked what he deemed his duty to point out in vigorous and convincing lan guage, the apparent inconsistencies and misconcep tions which logically follow the loose construction which is sometimes put upon this doctrine. The work will prove to be of great practical value to cor poration lawyers, and we heartily commend it to the profession at large.
A TREATISE ON THE AMERICAN LAW OF GUARDIAN SHIP of Minors and Persons of Unsound Mind. By J. G. WOERNER. Little, Brown & Co., Bos ton, 1897. Law sheep. $6.50 net. Judge Woerner, who is well known to the legal profession through his admirable treatise on " The
American Law of Administration," further increases our obligation to him by the preparation of this exhaustive work upon the law of guardianship. The leading features which made •' The Law of Adminis tration " so practical and so popular are not lacking in this new work. The subject, after a general intro duction, is divided into two parts — the guardianship of minors and of persons of unsound mind. It is then subdivided into the natural and logical titles, treating successively the instituting of guardianship over minors, the functions of guardians of minors, the conversion of real estate of minors, the guardians' accounting, the procedure to establish unsoundness of mind, the functions of guardians of persons of unsound mind, the close of the guardianship. Each statement of the law is supported by citations to the decisions of the courts of last resort, and where necessary or advisable, to the statutes, of all the States, and of the United States. The total number of cases cited, as in the work on Administration, is very large, while they are selected with all the discrimina tion shown by Judge Woerner in the earlier book. No recent publication deserves a heartier welcome, and we are sure its merits will be fully appreciated by all practicing lawyers.
THE ORDER OF THE COIF. By ALEXANDER PULLING, Serjeant-at-law. William Clowes & Son, Lon don. The Boston Book Co., Boston, 1897. Cloth, §3.00. The original edition of this exhaustive chronicle of the antiquity and dignity of the degree of Serjeantat-Law, which was published at the price of two guineas, has been reissued by the present publishers at a price which brings it within the means of even' lawyer. The Order of the Coif has been bestowed on many distinguished men, erudite lawyers, power ful advocates, great judges, and masterly writers, and its history must be a matter of great interest, not only to lawyers, but to the students of the Constitution and History of England. Serjeant Pulling treats his subject in a most interesting manner, and gives us the early history of the order, together with an account of the Aula Regis and the courts at Westminister Hall derived from it : the Justiciars, the Judges, and Serjeants of the Coif, the Apprenticii ad Legern, the Inns of Court, the forms, solemnities, and usages kept up by the bench and the bar, records and memoirs of the old Order, and its many dis tinguished members, their legal and social posi tion, and the gradual innovations on the old institution. The book is fully and finely illustrated, and deserves to find a place in every lawyer's library.
