dissolved by the courts). It is the general opinion of the profession that this fee amounted to $250,000 at least. Mr. Parsons's regular annual earnings are said to range from $80,000 to $100,000. Among those who earn over $50,000 a year at this profession, the following have been named: James C. Carter, Bourke Cockran, Joseph H. Choate, Benjamin F. Tracy, Frederick R. Coudert, Robert G. Ingersoll, Elihu Root, Artemas H. Holmes, Horace Russell, S. T. C. Dodd and George Hoadly."—Ex. Prof. George D. Watrous has an interesting article in the current number of the Yale Law Journal, on the "Moral Right to Defend the Guilty." His conclusions are as follows: No other "Now, let us look the question fairly in the face, and assume that to a moral certainty the lawyer does know the client's guilt. Must he then decline the retainer, or, if he has accepted it, withdraw from the case as soon as he learns the truth? If he must, the consequences to the accused are likely to be disastrous. He is from the first put on his guard against his own attorney, and all confidence between them is destroyed. If, in spite of his caution, the attorney learns the truth, and it becomes his duty to withdraw, the prisoner is doomed. honorable lawyer could take the place of his counsel, and every new refusal or withdrawal would add to the presumption of the prisoner's guilt when he comes before the jury. Conviction would almost certainly be the fate of a man prejudged-not by the constitutionally guaranteed tribunal—but by his own chosen counsel to whom he has turned for help and protection, but who turns against him to become judge, jury and accuser as well. No such duty on the lawyer's part could possibly exist in a community where personal liberty is the dearest of all possessions, and where an impartial trial of every one accused is its surest guaranty." * In the British House of Commons there are 143 barristers and 21 solicitors, making a total of 164, or about a quarter of the whole number of mem- bers. In the last Parliament there were 150 barristers and 17 solicitors, a total of 167. Uncle Josh.-"I guess James must be doin' first rate down in the city practisin' law." Aunt Mandy." Why?" Uncle Josh." Well, I heard two fellows that come in while I was there say they wanted him to come up and try a case that evenin'."-Kate Field's Washington. new Attorney." I want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Witness (testily)." Well, you shall have it, but you don't want to be talking to me as if I were a lawyer."Detroit Free Press. Counsel." The gist of the matter, your Honor, is that Michael O'Flannigan hit Patrick McDougal." Paddy McDougal.-"Jist! D'ye say! Don't yez belave him, yer Honor, it's the sober truth!"-Harvard Lampoon. Judge." Is there any reason why sentence of death should not be passed upon you?" Prisoner."I don't know of any, your Honor, but maybe my lawyer does-that's what he's here for."Truth. BOOK REVIEWS. A MANUAL OF MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. By Alfred Swain Taylor, M. D., F. R. S., revised and edited by Thomas Stevenson, M. D., London. Eleventh American, edited with citations and additions from the twelfth English edition, by Clark Bell, Esq., President of the American International Medico-Legal Congress of 1893. 787 pages, 56 illustrations. Price, cloth, $4.50; sheep, $5.50. Lea Brothers & Co., Philadelphia, 1892. Taylor on Medical Jurisprudence is a work which has been recognized for a great many years as the standard book on that branch of law. In its new form, edited by Dr. Stevenson, for the English edition, and Clark Bell for the American edition, it is undoubtedly the best work published on Medical Jurisprudence. The subject is one which is generally passed lightly over by the law student, and the lawyer, too, in his reading, but, nevertheless, it is one that every lawyer should be familiar with to some degree. Of course, it is not expected-and there would be no necessity for it-that lawyers should know the subject thoroughly. To do this would mean graduation from a Medical School as well as from a Law School. But cases frequently arise where an elementary knowledge of this medical branch of the law would be of the utmost service to the lawyer. We are always glad to see a well written book. So many works are written in an intricate, dry-as-dust style, that when we see that a writer is a master of his language as well as of his subject, praise is more ready to our pen. It is really surprising that so attractive a style can be used on so technical a subject as we find in the present volume. Much of this is probably due to Mr. Clark Bell, who has added to, re-written parts of, and amended the ancient work of Taylor. A careful examination shows that the book is in every sense complete and satisfactory. An intelligent perusal of its pages will give the student as good a knowledge of the subject as is perhaps needed for all practical purposes, while a careful study will make the student proficient in medico-legal learning. The main divisions of the work are: Medical Evidence, Poisoning, Corrosive and Irritant Poisons, Metallic Irritants, Vegetable and other Irritants, Neurotic Poisons, Wounds and Personal Injuries, Drowning, Hanging, Strangulation, Suffocation, Lightning, Cold, Heat, Starvation, Pregnancy, Delivery, Criminal Abortion, Infanticide, Birth-Inheritance, Legitimacy, Paternity, Impotency, Sterility, Rape, Insanity, Life Insurance. It is interesting to compare the handsome volume from the press of Lea Brothers with the first few editions; the latter poorly bound, on indifferent paper, in fine type, while the former is really an example of the printer's art of the present day. Mr. Clark Bell deserves much credit on the part of the profession for the work he has done to the literature of the law in the production of this volume. His work may be best summed up in his own words: "This edition will contain a statement of the law on many topics as it now exists in England and the American States, with a reference to the authorities intended for medical jurists and lawyers. It will furnish students with entirely new data on many subjects, treated in quite an original manner." THE AMERICAN DIGEST. (Annual, 1892.) Being volume six of the United States Digest Third Series annuals; also, the Complete Digest for 1892. A Digest of all the Decisions of the United States Supreme Court, all the United States Circuit and District Courts, the Courts of last Resort of all the States and Territories, and the Intermediate Courts of New York State, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Colorado, U. S. Court of Claims, Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, etc., as reported in the National Reporter System and elsewhere, from September 1, 1891, to August 31, 1892. Prepared and edited by the editorial staff of the National Reporter System. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1892. $8.00. pp. 6046. This is probably the largest single volume law book that has ever been published. Stupendous is the only adjective that will adequately characterize this work. 20,000 cases are here summarized, yet every part of the work is accurate and exact in every particular. The latest and best methods of arrangement, in headings, subheadings, black letter catch lines, references and cross references, have been used, making use of the volume an easy and convenient work. A subject is found in just the place it should be, and no time is wasted in trying to find the cases on the point wished for. An Improved Index adds much to the convenience of the volume. The paper is good and sufficiently heavy, while the print, though small, is clear and as easy to the eye as could well be expected. This digest will prove a most useful companion to the lawyer. * LAWYERS' GENERAL DIGEST. Published semi-monthly. Rochester: The Lawyers' Co-operative Publishing Company. $5.00 per year. Single Nos., 25 cents. Coming out as it does twice a month, this digest forms as satisfactory reference book to the latest cases as could be desired. The references are, of course, to the various series of reporters. The editing and compiling seems to be well and accurately done. The price is remarkably low for the amount of material given and the convenience its frequent appearance insures. THE AMERICAN STATE REPORTS, containing the cases of general value and authority subsequent to those contained in the "American Decisions" and the "American Reports," decided in the Courts of Last Resort of the several States, selected, reported and annotated by A. C. Freeman, and the Associate Editors of the "American Decisions." Vol. 27, PP. 1039. Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney Company, 1892. San Volume twenty-seven contains selections of cases decided in the following States: Cal., Ga., Kan., Mo., Neb., N. J., N. Y., Pa., R. I., S. C., Tex., Wis. The volumes in this series come to our desk so often that it is difficult to comment upon each as it appears; yet the series is of so much practical value, and the work is so well done, we hesitate to insert a merely perfunctory notice. We do wish, however, to recommend these "American State Reports" to every lawyer. It is a set of books without which a law library is incomplete, and without which a lawyer will find his labor increased and lengthened. Probably the most interesting case in this volume, at any rate to residents of this city, is the famous one of Tilden vs. Green, which decided that the trust which the late Samuel J. Tilden attempted to create was void, because there was no beneficiary who could claim its enforcement. * COLUMBUS AND HIS DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. By Herbert B. Adams, Ph. D., and Henry Wood, Ph. D. pp. 88. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, October and November, 1892. 50 cents. This volume is interesting, not alone for its timeliness, but for the attractiveness of the productions making up the pamphlet. It consists of an Oration by Professor Adams, an Oration by Professor Wood, "The First Jew in America," by Professor M. Kayserling; "Columbus in Oriental Literature," by Dr. Cyrus Adler; "Bibliographies of the Discovery of America," by Charles W. Bump; "Public Memorials of Columbus," by Charles W. Bump. THE ELEMENTS OF TACHYGRAPHY. By David Philip Lindsley. Edition. Boston: Otis Clapp & Son, 10 Park Square. 1890. Fourteenth Tachygraphy is a system of shorthand whose inventor hopes for it the supersession, not only of all other methods of stenography, but also of longhand. Whether such a vast reform as this will ever be carried out, of course, it is impossible to foresee; and so improbable is it that even the beginning of this change will be seen in our own generation that such a discussion in our columns would be profitless. But whatever may be thought of Mr. Lindsley's expectations with regard to longhand, there can be little doubt that for all stenographic purposes his system is excellent. The author justly says in his preface that "long outlines, which can be rapidly written and read with certainty-outlines which need no memorizing, and which can never be forgotten-are far better for general use than stenographic devices. All sensible men know that our highly wrought stenographic systems are practicable only for the very few." Equally true is his exposition of the difficulty, under popular stenographic systems, of "a legible writing of the world of proper names and places, and the 50,000 uncommon words of our language, which, though seldom used, are liable now and then to occur, and which are all the more troublesome from the fact that they occur only once or twice perhaps in a lifetime." THE MAGAZINES. December. North American Review. The leading article of the month is "The New House of Commons and the Irish Question," by the Right Hon. Arthur James Balfour. The contents also include a vivid description of “A Campaign for Ballot Reform," by Hon. E. Burd Grubb; on the "Horse in America," by Col. Theodore A. Dodge; "Opportunities for Young Men in Jamaica," by the Governor of Jamaica; "A Month of Quarantine," by E. L. Godkin; "When is the Pope Infallible?" by S M. Brandi, S. J.; "International Yachting," by the Earl of Dunraven; "A Blow at the Freedom of the Press," by Hannis Taylor; " Divorce: From a French Point of View," by Alfred Naquet, Member of the French Chamber of Deputies; "Is Alcoholism Increasing Among American Women?" by T. D. Crothers, M. D.; "Wages of Sin," by Henry Smith Williams. Supt. of the Randall's Island Hospital. * The Green Bay. December. Contains : "A Stroller's Confession" (in verse), by Wendell P. Stafford; "Practical Tests in Evidence," by Irving Browne; "The Lynch-Law Tree;" "Japanese Causes Célébres, I.; " "Sketches from the Parliament House, VI. The Lord Justice Clark," by A. Wood Renton; "The Supreme Court of North Carolina, III.," by Walter Clark; "A Judicial Anthology, I. British Specimens," Henry A. Chaney. Tne Medico-Legal Journal. September. The frontispiece is a portrait of Mr. "Blood and Blood Stains in Medical Jurisprudence," by Clark Bell; "A Micrometric Study of Red Blood Corpuscles," by Prof. Marshall D. Ewell; "The Criminal Insane," by J.T.Graham, M. D. Chicago Law Journal. December: "Warning of Danger to EmployeesPrecautions to be Taken by Employer -Relation of the Person Assigned to Give Signals to the Employes," by John Gibbons, LL.D. * Yale Law Journal. December: "The Moral Right to Defend the Guilty," by Justice Shiras, which is accompanied by a biographical sketch. The Law Bulletin of the State University of Iowa. October: "Municipal Law-An Analysis," Jas. A. Rohbach; "Determinable Fees," Samuel Hayes ; "Estoppel in Pais as against Persons Non Sui Juris," Martin J. Wade; "Cases on Insurance," Emlin McClain. This bulletin is for the use of the students of the Law School of the Iowa State University, and its articles are by professors of the institution. The contributions above noted are most valuable for the purposes intended. |