7 MARCH 1863, Page 23

Transactions of the Social Science Association, 1862. (Parker, Son, and

Bourn.)—We can scarcely be expected to do more than chronicle the ap- pearance of this weighty volume, which contains 900 pages of what cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be regarded as light reading. Among the numerous subjects which it discusses, we may notice the Marriage Laws of the United Kingdom, and the English and Irish Convict Systems. On the latter of these subjects Sir Joshua Jebb has much to say, and makes more than one attempt to maintain his system against that pursued by Sir Walter Crofton ; but it is at least doubtful whether he has succeeded in showing even the slightest cause why the verdict which the public has already pronounced on his measures should not be fully confirmed and immediately acted upon.