Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 5.djvu/59

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HARVARD LAW REVIEW.
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REVIEWS. 43 Trover — Return of Chattel — Damages. — An action for the wrongful conversion of a certificate of stock cannot be continued, after the return of the certificate to the plaintiff and his acceptance thereof, to recover damages for his time, trouble, and expense in obtaining it, as the extinguishment of the conversion carries with it the damages resulting therefrom. Collins v. Lowry, 47 N. W. Rep. 612 (Wis.). Trusts — Contract for Sale of Land — Right of Vendee. — The plaintiff contracted with the defendant for the sale of land. Before the deed was delivered to the plaintiff the land was taken by a railroad company under the right of eminent domain. Held, that the plaintiff must pay to the defendant the contract price of the land ; and that he would be entitled to recover condemna- tion damages from the railroad company. Gammon v. Blaisdell, 25 Pac. Rep. 580 (Kan.). Trusts — Conveyance taken by Agent — Statute of Frauds. — Held, if a principal employs an agent by parol to purchase property, and the agent purchases in his own name, with his own money, and takes a conveyance to himself and denies the agency: to an action by the principal against the agent, seeking a conveyance to himself, section 7 of the Statute of Frauds still affords a good defence. James v. Smith [1891], 1 Ch. 384 (Eng.). This decision is opposed to the doctrine generally accepted in America, that this is a constructive trust, and the statute has no application. See Rose v. Hayden, 36 Kan. 106; but see Burden v. Sheridan, 36 la. 125, contra. It is also opposed to what has been thought to be the law in England; the case of Bartlett v. Pickersgill, 4 East, 577, which it follows, having been treated as overruled. Trusts — Voluntary Settlement. — By a voluntary deed of settlement con- taining full powers of attorney to collect and sue, P. assigned to M. four specialty debts secured by bills of sale. There was no express assignment of the bills of sale, or of the goods comprised therein. Before his death P. received payment of these debts. Held, M. could prove against P.'s estate for the amount of these debts. In re Patrick [1891], I Ch. 82, Ct. of App. (Eng.). REVIEWS. A Treatise on the Law of Judgments, including the Doc- trine of Res Judicata. By Henry Campbell Black. In two vol- umes. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., 1891. 8vo. pp. xcii and 1270. This book is the latest, largest, and — we feel safe in saying — is destined to become the most satisfactory to the profession, of all the present treatises on this general subject. The work gives evidence throughout of accurate and exhaustive research. It is, first and fore- most, a practical book of reference, with a copious and well-ordered index. The chief object is to state the law as it is, and not as it has been or should be. The growth of a particular doctrine is traced only when nec- essary to explain a present conflict of authority — as in the discussion of the Conclusiveness of Foreign Judgments. Where the law in the different States is in square conflict, the author's conclusions are stated boldly, and well supported, but not at excessive length, an admirable sense of propor- tion being shown in all parts of the book. Especially commendable is the treatment of the difficult subject of Estoppel by Record, in which, as the preface states, " the apparent con- fusion arises, not so much from any real contradiction or obscurity in the authorities, as from the infinite variety exhibited in the facts of the different