The course in the history of the early English common law, known as “Points in Legal History,” which was given by Prof. Ames for the first time last year, will hereafter be given only in alternate years. This course is, perhaps, as well adapted to the alternate system as any course in the school, as it can be taken with advantage by either second or third year students. It is probable that in a few years a corresponding course will be given by Prof. Ames on the classification of the law.
The catalogue of the School, which is being prepared by Mr. Arnold, the librarian, is to contain the names of all persons connected with the School from 1817 to 1886, inclusive, a number considerably over five thousand. It will give the full name, the date of entering, the year of leaving, the degrees, if any, conferred by the School, and other interesting particulars. Good progress has been made on the work during the summer, though, on account of the unsatisfactory state of the early records, the work has been necessarily slow and laborious. A special effort will be made to obtain the present addresses of the members, a difficult undertaking, as the School has never had any class organization, and no attempt has ever been made to keep the addresses up to date.
The last number of the “Law Quarterly” contains a discussion of the validity of determinable fees by Mr. H. W. Challis and Prof. Gray. The latter sums up his position as follows: “In conclusion, let me put a practical question. Suppose that a building had been conveyed by A to B, to hold to him and his heirs so long as it was used as a dwelling-house; and that, all the houses in the neighborhood having been turned into shops, B turned his building into a shop also,—does any one believe that a suit by the Crown to get possession of the land would, as a matter of real life, be successful in the courts of to-day? I should say it could not, because (1) since the statute Quia Emptores there can be no possibility of reverter; (2) if there could be, the one which it is here attempted to create is too remote. But what would be the answer of those who deny these propositions?”
The Law School opens this year with 204 students, classified as follows: Graduates, 2; third-year, 31; second-year, 52; first-year, 80; special, 39. Those entering the School are 113 in number. These newcomers are drawn from different States and countries, as is shown below: Massachusetts, 50; New York, 10 ; Ohio, 7; New Hampshire, 6; Illinois, 5; California, 4; Maine, 3; Kentucky, 3; Wisconsin, 3; Pennsylvania, 3; Rhode Island, 2; Tennessee, 2; Missouri, 2; New Brunswick, 2; and 1 each from Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Connecticut, Nebraska, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and London, Eng. Seventy-three have received college degrees, distributed as follows: Harvard, 43; Amherst, 5; Brown, 5; Yale, 4; Oberlin, 2; and Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Tufts, University of California, Kansas Normal, Massachusetts Agricultural, Eureka, Fisk, University of New Brunswick, Beloit, Kentucky University, Baden Gymnasium, Allegheny, and Trinity, 1 each.
A decision of special interest to professors and students has recently been given by the House of Lords, in the case of Caird v. Sime, 12
