(2nd ed., 1905), pp. 555 seq., and Schmiedel's paragraphs in Ency.
He first introduced the division into chapters and paragraphs, and by means of carefully compiled indexes illustrated the lexical peculiarities of each author.
As regards doctrine, the work is exhaustive; but it is diffuse, obscure, and occasionally selfcontradictory, as might be expected in a work which consists of a number of unconnected paragraphs of various authorship and date.
Ments of custom included in the second division according to the first classification, a great many of the rules entered in collections promulgated by kings; most of the paragraphs of iEthelberht's, Hlothhere's, and Eadric's and Ine's laws, are popular legal customs that have received the stamp of royal authority by their insertion in official codes.
While it is impossible to give here anything like a complete or exact survey of the field - a task rendered almost impossible by the arbitrary manner in which paragraphs are divided, by the difficulty of making Old English enactments fit into modern rubrics, and by the necessity of counting several times certain paragraphs bearing on different subjects - a brief statistical analysis of the contents of royal codes and laws may be found instructive.