104 HANDBOOK OF THE LAW OF REAL PROPERTY BY WM. L. BURDICK A. B., A. M. (WESLEYAN); PH. D. (GRANT); LL. B. (YALE) AT ONE TIME STUDENT IN HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL. PROFESSOR OF LAW ARD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PROCEDURE. ETC. ALL who have made a special study of real property law realize the difficulties involved in attempting to present with reasonable adequacy the principles of so great a subject within the narrow confines of a single volume. The author's experience of more than twenty years, both as a practitioner and a teacher of this subject, has served to increase his consciousness of these difficulties. He has long been aware, however, that a one-volume work is more available and practical for the use of the average law student than a more extended treatise. Accordingly, when the writer of this book was invited by its publishers to prepare a one-volume text upon the subject of real property, he came to the conclusion that, if personal theories and discursive digressions were omitted, the fundamental principles of the subject, profound though it is, could be stated in a single volume of reasonable length. At least, this is what he has tried to do. Montesquieu says that law can be understood only through the light of history. This is peculiarly true in the case of our land law, and some reference to English history is absolutely necessary in order to explain certain doctrines and principles connected with our real property law of the present time. The Roman law may likewise, at times, afford enlightenment in the same way. For occasional reference, therefore, to these sources of information, the author has no apology. His regret is that, in order to keep the size of the volume within the limits as planned, much that could be drawn helpfully from the past had to be omitted. In working out the subject the author has endeavored to state, not only the early or the common law, but also, as more important, the law as it exists in this country at the present time. He has tried to make the book reliable from the standpoint of scholarship, and also useful to the practitioner from the standpoint of modern application. If it is found that to a fair degree he has succeeded in this effort, he will feel abundantly rewarded. To the student and also to the reader in general he wishes to say a word, however, with reference to such phrases as "modern law," the "practical side of the law," and other similar expressions too often emphasized with misleading effect. Mr. Cyprian Williams, in his excellent edition of his father's admirable book on Real Property (Williams Real Prop. [17th Ed.] p. 174) says: "The whole modern law of real property is nothing but a tangle of heterogeneous devices for |