288 HARVARD LAW REVIEW. Association v. Topeka, p. 78 ; and the next two cases, pp. 85, 91, bring us back to considering what is a direct tax again. The chief defect in the work is its meagre, and sometimes careless, annotation. The only satisfactory note is on the Dred Scott case, p. 489, where the situation is well explained by quotations from writers of eminence. It is only fair to say that after the case of In re Neagle, p. 337, a note of four lines refers to a case decided in 1897 ; and under the Police Power, to make up, perhaps for printing only two cases, the author gives a note of twenty lines, stating the substance of two cases and citing six others. Under Interstate Commerce, however, the subject which above all marks a fluctuation between opposing views, there is not a note from beginning to end, except three lines at the end of Gibbons v. Ogden, p. 172, to the effect that Chancellor Kent (whose opinion was overruled by the decision) had held differently, and that his reasons might be found in his commen- taries. What notes there are, are carelessly compiled ; most of the cita- tions are simply those referred to in the opinions ; and a case referred to in Loan Association v. Topeka, p. 81, which in the opinion could be cited only in manuscript because not yet regularly reported, is still re- ferred to as " MS.," although it has now been reported for twenty-four years. Lowell v. Boston, 1 1 1 Mass. 454. Useful the book may be for beginning the study of constitutional law; but it is unfortunate that the work has not been better carried out. j. g. p. The Law of Bankruptcy. By Wm. Miller Collier. Albany, N. Y. : Matthew Bender. 1898. pp. xxx, 536. Primarily this treatise is a clear analysis of the United States Bank- ruptcy Act of 1898, and the arrangement of the chapters and the scheme of the sub-sections are partly determined by the form of the Act. Each section of the law is printed in full : there are references to former Na- tional Bankruptcy Acts and cross-references to the present Act. Following this is the commentary upon the section in topical paragraphs — over seven hundred in all. This form of treatment is most convenient for the practitioner. The appendix, containing certain forms from another hand, is now superseded by the official forms ; but the abstract of State Exemp- tion Laws in Appendix B is indispensable. The study of bankruptcy consists mainly in construing the statutes. The permanent value of the author's work depends upon the accuracy of his forecast Oi' the way in which the courts will construe the Act. In his interpretation of the law the author cites over five thousand cases bearing upon analogous provisions in other Acts, American and English : the chief stress is, of course, laid upon the judicial construction of the United States Bankruptcy Act of 1867, on which the present law is largely moulded. The author's comments are very uneven in value, but some are distinctly able. The fundamental chapter upon the creation and jurisdiction of the courts of bankruptcy is clear and prac- tical throughout : but incidentally the discussion of the jurisdiction to determine the rights of lienors is hardly conclusive, p. 12. In the chapter concerning the adjudication of bankruptcy, the technical acts of bankruptcy are defined with much care, but the defence of solvency, which is one of the characterizing features of the new law, is dismissed too briefly, pp. 36-51. The treatment of exemptions is notably satisfacr
