74 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Copyright in Books : An Inquiry into the 

 Origin and an Account of the Present 

 State of the Law in Canada. A Lecture 

 delivered before the Law School of Bish- 

 op's College at Sherbrooke. By S. E. 

 Dawson. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. 

 Pp. 40, with Appendix. 



This is a very instructive address, by 

 one who is well up in copyright erudition. 

 The account of the origin of copyright is 

 particularly excellent, while the exposition 

 of the present state of copyright law and 

 practice in Canada, and how the policy of 

 the home Government has borne upon the 

 British Provinces, will be of interest to all 

 who are concerned about this subject. 



It is curious to note how the first insti- 

 tution which was invested with the control 

 of publication in England, by which authors' 

 rights in their books were protected, was 

 established as a means of maintaining relig- 

 ious orthodoxy. The Stationers' Company, 

 which, like all the other ancient trading 

 guilds, had existed from the middle ages, re- 

 ceived a chartered extension of its powers 

 " to search out and destroy " books printed 

 in contravention of the company's monopoly, 

 " or against faith and sound doctrine." On 

 this point Mr. Dawson observes : 



Kb record exists of authors' rights having 

 heen claimed for more than one hundred years 

 after the invention of printing. There was no 

 restriction in printing books, any more than 

 there had been in copying manuscript hooks. 

 Every printer printed what he chose, without let 

 or hindrance from any person. At the end of 

 that period, however, the enormous power of 

 the press became manifest. The stir of thought 

 which produced the Reformation had heen 

 caused, and was kept up, by the art of printing ; 

 and when Philip and Mary came to the throne of 

 England they set themselves to stem the tide of 

 innovation. For that purpose they incorporated 

 the Stationers" Company by royal charter for 

 licensing and regulating the printing and sale of 

 books, and they vested in this company a mo- 

 nopoly of multiplying copies. The preamble to 

 the charter se'ts forth its object. It reads : 



"Know ye, that we, considering and mani- 

 festly perceiving that several seditious heretical 

 books, hoth in verse and prose, are daily pub- 

 lished, stamped and printed, by divers scanda- 

 lous, schismatical, and heretical persons, not 

 only exciting our subjects and liegc-men to sedi- 

 tion and disohediencc against us, our crown, 

 and dignity, but also to the renewal and propa- 

 gating very great and detestable heresies against 

 the faith and sound Catholic doctrine of Holy 

 Mother the Church, and heing willing to provide 

 a remedy in this case," etc. 



A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the 

 Skin. By Louis A. Duhring, M. D., 

 Professor of Diseases of the Skin in the 

 Hospital of the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania ; Dermatologist to the Philadel- 

 phia Hospital ; Consulting Physician to 

 the Dispensary for Skin Diseases, Phila- 

 delphia ; Author of the "Atlas of Skin 

 Diseases," etc. Third edition, revised 

 and enlarged. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 

 Pp. 684. Price, $6. 



A third edition of this excellent work 

 having been called for, the approbation of 

 the profession must be taken as determin- 

 ing it to rank as one of the standards of 

 medical literature. The plan of the work 

 is that of a practical treatise, which, while 

 making no pretension to being exhaustive* 

 yet comprises sufficient to afford a clear in- 

 sight into the elements of dermatology, and 

 a knowledge of the important facts in con- 

 nection with each disease treated of. The 

 progress of dermatological science, in both 

 its physiological and pathological aspects, 

 has been very rapid in recent years, which 

 makes indispensable the frequent revision 

 of works on skin-diseases. The second 

 edition of this work was accordingly care- 

 fully rewritten and much extended. The 

 third edition has also been critically revised, 

 and brought sharply up to date. The chap- 

 ter on the anatomy and physiology of the 

 skin has been rewritten and elaborated, 

 this change being demanded by the recent 

 studies in microscopic anatomy. The book 

 as a whole has also been considerably en- 

 larged. Numerous additions in the way of 

 cases illustrating rare forms of disease, new 

 and important observations, personal expe- 

 rience, and therapeutical information, will 

 be found upon almost every page. 



Errors in the Use of English. By the 

 late William B. Hodgson, LL. D., Fel- 

 low of the College of Preceptors and 

 Professor of Political Economy in the 

 University of Edinburgh. American re- 

 vised edition. Pp. 246. Price, $1.50. 



There are few things to be done in this 

 world that can not be overdone, and among 

 the things that can be studied out of all 

 proportion to their importance are the ex- 

 quisite niceties and transcendental refine- 

 ments of language. The danger of excess 

 here is, however, because a high standard 

 of excellence is justly demanded. Dr. Hodg- 



