MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON. BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK. BOSTON CHICAGO ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO A HANDBOOK BY WILLIAM GOW M.A. (Glasg.), Ph.D. (Heid.) MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED First Edition 1895. Reprinted with corrections 1896, 1897 PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION WHEN the Marine Insurance Act of 1906 (6 Edw. VII., Ch. 41) came into operation on the 1st January 1907, it seemed to put an end to any useful existence of the present book, based as it is almost entirely upon Case law, which has been codified or superseded by that Act of Parliament. In consequence, it was arranged that there should be no further reprint of this book, as it seemed no longer adapted to the wants of the commercial community, and the writer felt that, having done its work, it might well be allowed to drop out of existence. But very soon after this decision was reached, an unexpected demand for the book arose, and as it was impossible to meet that demand by immediately supplying a similar work on the Marine Insurance Act of 1906, the only alternative that remained was to reprint the last edition, adding in a supplement the most important decisions reported since 1903. This plan is by no means satisfactory to the writer, except in so far as it gives him the opportunity of completing the record of important decisions given up to the 31st December 1906, that is, up to the close of the period during which marine insurance was regulated principally, if not entirely, by Case law. As it appeared convenient to bring the record of cases as far down as possible, the most important decisions given from 1st January 1907, to the close of |