Dr Wiswall examines the development of jurisdiction and practice in the field of Admiralty Law in England, with American comparisons, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the work is largely organized around the Court of Admiralty from 1798 onwards. The judgeships of Lord Stowell, Dr Lushington, Sir Robert Phillimore and Sir Francis Jeune, in England, are considered in some detail, and also those of Mr Justice Story, Judge Ashur Ware and Judge Addison Brown in the United States. One chapter is devoted to an examination of the dissolution of Doctors' Commons (the unique body of English civil lawyers). Development through case law, statutes and rules is the technical side of this study - an exposition not so much of the development of legal principles themselves as of their application. 'The last chapter turns to a study of the evolution of the substantive law regarding personal liability in Admiralty actions in rem, illustrating the divergence between the English and American law, and the effect upon and repercussions in international maritime law.