it, makes it very
easy for one to find the statement or discussion of any point which he
desires to investigate. This admirable mode of arrangement and division
of the subject is a characteristic of all the legal treatises of
Professor Parsons, and our own experience is that it is much easier
to find what we want in his works than in any others that we have had
occasion to use or refer to. The usefulness of a law-book depends also
very much upon its index; and the completeness and accuracy of this part
of the work are noticeable in this as well as in the other treatises of
the author.

In our examination of the work we had marked several chapters, with the
intention of making special reference to them: the first chapters of the
work, for the precision and clearness with which the essential elements
of bills and notes are defined and explained; the chapter on Checks, for
presenting the most complete statement which we have of the law upon
that important topic; the chapters upon Action and Evidence, for giving
in a systematic form much matter which is of the greatest use to the
practitioner, but which the textbooks have generally left him to pick up
as best he may, or have presented in a brief and unsatisfactory manner;
and other chapters for still other features of excellence. But we have
not space for further comment. These volumes are the result of a truly
vast amount of labor, and we are confident that they will be received by
the profession, by students, and by business-men with a hearty gratitude
to the author for the service he has done them in writing this new work.

There is a short Appendix, containing a reprint of the provisions of the
Stamp Act of the United States in relation to bills, notes, letters of
credit, drafts, orders, and checks; together with an examination of some
of the questions which the statute suggests.

The mechanical execution of these volumes is very superior.

* * * * *

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