probably have been sufficient to include the garden, but that the five acre field was an entirely separable subject which required mention. The Lord Justice Clerk observed that he approved of the observation of Lord Fullerton in Bain, 2 D. 546, that "after "introducing, whether rightly or not, the rule requiring a formal "warning, we should not increase the risk of litigation which it was intended to remove by letting in facts and circumstances as supplying its place."

Another procedure point, which should be noted, occurred in the case of Alexander v. Wilson & Campbell, 1919, 1 S.LT. 109. The pursuer, a burgh assessor, appealed against a decision of the Valuation Committee, but two days before the sitting of the Valuation Appeal Court he withdrew his appeal. The agents for the respondents had already instructed counsel to oppose the appeal, and had incurred certain other expenses. At the sitting of the Court they moved for these expenses, on the plea that timeous intimation of withdrawal had not been made. The Court refused the motion, on the ground that it would be an innovation in the ordinary practice of the Court to award expenses, and that the Court was not prepared to make an award in the present case without warning; but the Court intimated that in any future case it would consider itself at liberty to make an award of expenses where expenses had been incurred by a party not giving timeous intimation of the withdrawal of his appeal.

Literature.

THE LAW OF CONTRACT DURING AND AFTER WAR. By Professor William Finlayson Trotter, M. A., LL.D. Third edition. Edinburgh William Hodge & Co. 42s. net.

This is more than a law book for lawyers. It is a lucid statement of the law which every commercial man should have on his desk for reference. During the next few years many contracts made before the war, and suspended during war time, may fall to be dealt with, for the war did not, as is sometimes supposed, necessarily put an end to existing contracts, and many commercial men will want to know where they stand in regard to obligations undertaken before the war, which may or may not revive at the conclusion of peace. This comprehensive treatise is conveniently arranged in three parts. In Part I. the learned author clearly and succinctly states the law in regard to the effect of war upon contracts. Part II. contains the leading British and American reported cases. In Part III. there are set forth the statutes and proclamations, including the emergency legislation which the war necessitated. The statutory enactments and case law are brought down to date. Reference

is facilitated by a carefully-arranged and comprehensive Index. The get-up of the book leaves nothing to be desired.

Obituary.

At Aviemore, on 5th February, Mr. Walter Cumming, a former sheriff-clerk depute of Lanarkshire. Mr. Cumming acted as clerk to five Glasgow Sheriffs-Substitute-Sheriffs Birnie, Erskine-Murray, Balfour, Strachan, and Davidson. He succeeded the late Mr. James Young at Lanark, and after a long period of service he retired a few years ago.

At Edinburgh, on 14th February, Mr. John Hamilton, solicitor, Lanark. Mr. Hamilton, who was a partner in the firm of Messrs. Morison & Smith, was clerk to the heritors of Lesmahagow and clerk to the property and income tax commissioners for the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire.

Mr.

At Banff, on 14th February, Mr. James Grant, county clerk of Banffshire and town-clerk of Banff, aged fifty-three. Grant also acted as clerk and treasurer to the Banff county naval and military pensions committee. He is survived by a widow

and child.

At Edinburgh, on 16th February, Mr. William Finlay, S.S.C., of Messrs. W. & W. Finlay, W.S., aged eighty-four. Mr. Finlay was born in Edinburgh, and educated at the Royal High School and University there. He was admitted a member of the S.S.C. Society in 1871, and for several years acted as clerk to the late Lord Ormidale. Mr. Finlay is survived by a widow and by his son, Mr. Walter Finlay, W.S., who has been associated with him in business for the past twenty years.

At Paisley, on 22nd February, Mr. John Hogg, solicitor, Paisley, aged sixty. Mr. Hogg, who had been in business for twenty-five years, leaves a widow and grown-up family.

At Glasgow, on 22nd February, Mr. James Strang, solicitor, Glasgow. Mr. Strang was intimately associated with the Queen's Park Football Club, of which he was a former joint secretary.

At Dundee, on 26th February, Mr. Walter Baxter, solicitor, Dundee, aged seventy-one. Mr. Baxter was secretary and treasurer of the Dundee Faculty of Procurators, and was for many years Liberal agent in Dundee.

Notes from Edinburgh.

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, 28th February, 1919. IN less than three weeks the Court will rise for the spring vacation, and it may be hoped that when the summer session arrives this institution will exhibit more symptoms of life as known in the times of peace than it has been doing of late, for,

in spite of the population being well up to the pre-war standard, there seems to be some brooding influence still hanging over us which undoubtedly must be ascribed to the war. There is no animated conversation, nor are there any hearty outbursts of laughter in the great hall such as used to be pleasant features of the place, and though daily there are plenty of men under the roof of the building, they seem to have a habit of hiding themselves in odd corners, and as everybody now lunches at the same hour there is a time in the day when not a soul is to be seen going about, a thing unknown a few years back. The men returned from active service must realise the change which war has effected in the atmosphere and surroundings, and certainly they must find the same infinitely more peaceful than what they had been recently experiencing. One can readily pick out the active service men from the returned men who have been absent on civilian war duties, for without exception the former are thinner than when they set out, and their weather-beaten features have hard lines on them which they did not have formerly, while military moustaches have in several instances. been cultivated while on service. With so many men returning to resume practice it is unfortunate that business does not yet begin to take the expected upward curve. It is unlikely that any improvement will be manifested during the short summer session, with trade and labour in the troubled state in which they are just now; but with the advent of the winter session things ought to look better, that is if labour unrest can be satisfactorily ended.

During the month eight new King's Counsel have been appointed, making welcome additions to the ranks of seniors, for the shortage has lately been rather pronounced. Of the eight, however, only four have been well employed as juniors, and one of the four, Mr. C. E. Lippe, has been, and still is, in an invalid condition. The new silks are, respectively, Mr. W. J. Kippen, admitted in 1890, who is identified with the law reporting staff; Mr. G. W. Wilton, admitted in 1890, who has been a wellemployed junior in general practice, specialises in company work, and is the author of the well-known book on Company Law; Mr. C. H. Brown, admitted in 1894, who has also been a well-employed junior with a varied practice, having shipping law as a special line; Mr. John Cowan, admitted in 1897, lately on military service, who is Treasurer of the Faculty; Mr. M. P. Fraser, admitted in 1897, a busy junior in general practice, who is Sheriff of Chancery; Mr. Henry A. Young, admitted in 1899, who is a son of the late Lord Young, and is Assistant Crown Advocate in the East African Protectorate; Mr. C. E. Lippe, admitted in 1903, who, like Mr. M. P. Fraser, had the advantage

of having practised as a solicitor before coming to the bar, and was probably the very busiest junior here before his health broke down over a year ago; and Mr. William Finlayson Trotter, LL.D. (Cantab.), admitted in 1898, who is Professor of Law in Sheffield University, and Dean of the Faculty of Law there, and is the author of the important treatises on the Law of Contract During and After the War. So far, the meeting of Parliament does not seem to have drawn many of our legal M.P.'s to London, but there is room for more silks, even with the present addition of the few who are likely to be regularly employed.

Answers have been lodged by Mrs. Hope, the ex-aspirant for Parliament, to the petition for custody of her children, which · petition was last month presented to the First Division by the trustees of her late husband, and a proof has been fixed to proceed before Lord Mackenzie on 11th prox., when the averments of parties will be investigated. The practice usually adopted in petitions of the kind is to have the Sheriff or SheriffSubstitute of the county where parties are domiciled make investigations into matters and to report on the inquiries made; but the practice adopted in this case is to have proof taken by one of the First Division judges, and on the evidence being printed, a hearing will take place before the Division, which means that proceedings cannot very well be concluded this session and in regard to this a curious anomaly may be pointed out. By the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1886, section 9, it is made competent for the Lord Ordinary on the Bills in vacation to deal with such petitions, if they be at the instance of a mother: and had the lady who is now respondent been herself the petitioner, matters need not have been tied up over the vacation; but vacation proceedings would seem to be incompetent when the petitioners are, as in the present case, parties other than the natural guardian, unless a Lord Ordinary on the Bills should choose to exercise the nobile officium, and even then, his judgment is liable to be reclaimed against.

A most distressing accident befell Sheriff-Substitute Guy in the beginning of the month, when he was knocked down in Princes Street by a motor cycle and severely injured about the head. Concussion and fracture necessitated an operation which was successfully performed; but it will be a long time ere our genial and popular Sheriff-Substitute returns to duty. Meantime leave of absence has been granted for six months, and it is the sympathetic hope of everybody who knows him that complete recovery may take place before the expiry of that period.

For a short month February stands well numerically in the amount of new business received in the Outer House, there having been called 119 new summonses, though the proportion of

consistorial causes still remains very high, no less than 76 out of the 119 being of a consistorial nature. Lord Anderson, as usual, receives the greatest share, there having been called before his lordship 67 summonses, of which 43 are actions for divorce and 1 is for declarator of nullity. Lord Sands comes next with 21 new causes, whereof 18 are divorces; Lord Ormidale, third in order, has 14, there being 10 of them divorces; Lord Blackburn has 12, and of them 4 are divorces; and Lord Hunter, last, has 5, none being of a consistorial nature. As the majority of the consistorial actions will be undefended, the greater portion will be worked off in batches on Saturdays, which is a satisfactory arrangement, because the parties and witnesses, being mostly working class folks, only lose half a day's pay instead of a full day's earnings; and in pre-war times the Saturday had the further advantage of cheap railway fares being available, which advantage may, perhaps, be restored after peace is declared.

In the Inner House, during February, 18 new causes were received, 10 going to the First Division and 8 to the Second Division. The 10 in the First Division consist of 3 reclaiming notes, 5 special cases for opinion, and 2 stated cases under the Workmen's Compensation Act. The 8 in the other Division are composed of 2 reclaiming notes, 2 appeals, 3 special cases for opinion, and 1 stated case under the Workmen's Compensation Act.

The Crown prosecution of the several individuals charged with mobbing and rioting recently in Glasgow and with inciting thereto will come on for trial towards the close of the session, and the presiding judge will be the Lord Justice Clerk who already has had the matters before him in the Justiciary Appeal Court, held a week ago, when appeals against refusal of bail were disposed of, bail being allowed, but of very substantial amounts.

The usual notices which herald the advent of vacation have appeared in the Rolls as to the sittings for jury trials, which are due to commence on Friday, 21st March. The two box-days in the vacation have been fixed for Thursday, 10th April, and Thursday, 1st May; and the Court days following on the same will be Wednesday, 16th April, and Wednesday, 7th May.

Notes from London.

THE TEMPLE, 28th February, 1919.

THERE is not a less advertising and assertive person in the legal profession, including the Bench of Judges and the Articled

H