The Canadian cases cited number nine hundred and fifty, the English about the same number, and the American nearly four hundred. It will be observed that the illustrations have been arranged in three classes in the foregoing order. The Canadian cases have been subdivided by provinces, observing the order in which the provinces are usually named. The date of each decision has been given, and the cases in each class arranged in chronological order, beginning with the oldest. The principal English and Canadian Statutes have also been given for convenience of reference and for comparison with the dates of the cases.

The Canadian cases comprise nearly all the decisions of the Supreme Court and of the provincial Courts on the subject, except those based on repealed statutes, such as the Stamp Act, and the old laws regulating pleading and procedure, and those which depend upon the facts of the particular case. A large proportion of the Canadian cases will be found in the illustrations, where they are given with considerable fullness.

Special attention has also been paid to the decisions upon the Imperial Act of 1882. Not only those in the rcgu. lar English Law Reports have been cited, but also the Scotch and Irish cases, and those in the other English Reports, including twenty-five cases from the London Times Law Reports. These decisions are of special value on account of the great similarity of the two Acts, especially in view of the provision in section 8 of the amending Act of 1891, that the rules of the common law of England, including the law merchant, shall apply to Canada, save in so far as they are inconsistent with the express provisions of the Canadian Act.

The decisions selected from the great mass of American cases have been chiefly from the reports of the Supreme Court of the United States, and of the higher Courts of those States which follow most closely the common law and the law merchant. They are, as a rule, upon points that are not affected

by local statutes or usages. Preference has also been given to decisions of these Courts in the leading commercial centres with which Canada has most intercourse.

In order to facilitate reference, in addition to the alphabetical index at the end of the volume, a full table of contents is given at the beginning.

The list of overruled cases is, of course, only a partial one, but it is hoped that it may be found useful. It will be observed that a number of cases are there referred to that are not to be found in the body of the work.

Toronto, April, 1892.

J. J. M.