There have been, and are, good manuals of Roman law in plenty which might seem to render superfluous the publication of yet another. But, after all, they are foreign, sind what is more (ranitas canitatum!) however carefully later researches are digested in successive editions, there are changes of point of view which cannot be adopted in this fashion. What one may look for in a new manual is, besides a synthesis of recent work, the specification which that work lias undergone in the author's mind, also his general point of view and the special qualities which give his work individuality.