Call. A privilege to buy at a certain time for an agreed price, called the "call price," which is always a little above market price.

Call Loans. Money loaned subject to the call or demand of lender. It must be returned the day it is called for before the close of banking hours.

Capital. Money or other property invested in busi

ness.

Cashier. The clerk who has charge of the cash; the second executive officer in a bank.

Carat. Weight showing the degree of fineness of gold.

Cargo. A ship's lading or freight.

Carte Blanche. Signature of an individual or individuals on blank paper with space above to write a note; full power.

Certiorari. A writ for the removal of a cause from an inferior to a superior court. This writ always lies, unless where expressly taken away by statute, and herein it differs from an appeal, which can never be had unless expressly given.

Certificate. A written voucher attesting a fact. Certified Check. A check to which the cashier of a bank certifies in writing as to the genuineness of the signature of the drawer, and that he has funds on deposit sufficient to meet it, the bank reserving the amount certified and regarding it as having been already paid, and therefore unavailable for other use. Challenge. An exception taken by a prisoner against one or more jurors, who, when challenged, are set aside, if the challenge be allowed, and new ones put in their places.

Chancellor. An officer of the highest dignity and authority in various departments.

Chancery. The highest court of judicature next to the Parliament, and of very ancient institution. The Court of Chancery is called a Court of Equity, because it was instituted for the purpose of proceeding by the rules of equity and conscience, and of moderating the rigor of the common law; equity being the correction of that wherein the law, by reason of its universality, is deficient. Yet the Court of Chancery is not intended to act in opposition to, but in assistance of, the common law, supplying its deficiencies, not contradicting its rules; no judgment of law being reversible by a decree in Chancery.

Charter. A royal grant or privilege, granted to corporations, companies, etc.

Charter-Party. An instrument between merchants and owners or masters of ships, containing the particulars of the contract for the hire of the ship. It is in fact a mercantile lease of the ship.

Chattels. There are two kinds, chattels real and chattels personal; the former are leasehold property, and the latter personal goods or chattels, as furniture or money.

Chose. A thing. Chose-en-action is a thing of which a man has not the possession, and which he can only claim by action, as, for instance, a debt owing to him by another.

Chattel Mortgage. A mortgage of personal property.

Check. An order upon a bank, or banker, to pay on demand to the person named in the check, or to his order, the sum of money specified in the body of the check in writing.

Choses in Possession. Things of which one has the possession.

Citation. The first step in an ecclesiastical cause, analogous to the writ of summons in an action.

Civil Law. The Roman law is comprised in the institutes, code, and digest of the Emperor Justinian. Cipher Code. An arrangement of words to stand for phrases, numbers, or quotations, so that telegrams may be thus sent in a private and condensed form.

Client. Anciently, a Roman citizen, taken under the protection of some great man, who was styled his patron. The term is now applied to a party who employs a solicitor or counsel in any legal proceeding. Clear. To exchange checks and bills, and to settle balances as is done in a clearing house.

Clearing House. An organization for the settlement of balances between members. Usually applied to banks.

Clearing House Certificates. Certificates issued by a clearing house against collateral approved by the loan committee, and used in the settlement of the daily balances between its members.

Clearance. Certificate from the custom authorities permitting a vessel to leave port.

Clearing. Act of leaving port.

Clique. A combination of persons "to run a deal" or manipulate a market. Usually applied to stocks, grain, and provisions.

Closed Policy. A policy in which the amount insured is definitely stated.

Codicil. A supplement to a will.

Commission. The warrant, or letters patent, authorizing any inquiry judicial or otherwise; as the commis sion of the judges, the commission of the peace, etc. Commitment. The sending a person who has been guilty of any crime, to prison, by warrant or order. Committee. Persons to whom the consideration of any matter is referred; as a Committee of the House of Congress.

Common (Rights of). These are of four sorts: viz., pasture, piscary, estovers, and turbary. Common of pasture is the right of feeding one's cattle on the land of another; piscary, that of fishing in waters belonging to another; estovers, the right of taking wood from another's estate, for household use and implements in husbandry; and turbary, the right of digging turf upon another's ground.

Common Law. The law of England is composed of Acts of Parliament or statutes, and the custom of the realm, the latter consisting of those rules or maxims which have obtained by common consent an immemorial usage. The former are designated the lex scripta, or statute law; the latter the lex non scripta, or common law. This term is also applied to the superior courts of Westminster, which are called Courts of Common Law, as distinguished from the Court of Chancery, which is the Court of Equity.

Complainant. One who complains of the act of another in a court of justice, more commonly called plaintiff.

Compounding Offenses. Entering into an agreement not to prosecute an offender, for any consideration received or to be received, constitutes a crime, for which the offender may be indicted.

Compounding with Creditors. An agreement by which creditors take a portion of their claims in discharge of the whole. Conditions of Sale The terms upon which a vendor undertakes to sell to a purchaser. Confirmation. A deed by which a voidable estate in land is made perfect.

Conjugal Rights. Those rights of husband and wife which spring out of their relationship.

Consanguinity. Relationship by blood, in contradistinction to affinity, which is a relationship by marriage. Conservator. A standing arbitrator, appointed to compose and adjust differences that may rise between parties, etc.

Consideration. The price or motive of a contract, without which a simple contract is void. In technical language, it may be defined as "some detriment to the plaintiff sustained for the sake or at the instance of the defendant, or some benefit to the defendant moving from the plaintiff."

Consignee. A person to whom goods are delivered either as purchaser, or more generally for sale on commission. Consignor. The person by whose act or direction goods are delivered to the consignee.

Consignment. The act of making over, or delivering, goods to another.

Conspiracy. A combination of two or more persons to carry into effect an unlawful purpose.

Consul. An officer appointed by government to reside abroad and watch over the interests of our countrymen who may happen to reside in or be passing through the place where the consul is located.

Contempt. A disobedience to the rules, orders, or process of a court, which has power to punish such offense, which it does by imprisonment.

Contract. A covenant or agreement between two or more persons with a lawful consideration.

Contribution. Where one surety or joint contractor has been obliged to satisfy the whole demand, he may obtain contribution from his fellow surety or contractor.

Contributory. One liable to contribute to the liquidation of the liabilities of a joint stock company, under the Winding-up Acts.

Conveyance. A deed which passes or conveys land from one person to another.

Conveyancers. Persons who devote themselves to the preparation of formal documents concerning property.

Convict. He that is found guilty of an offense by the verdict of a jury.

Coroner. An officer whose duty it is to inquire into the cause by which any person came to a sudden or violent death, which must be done, before him and the jury assembled for the purpose, upon view of the body. Costs. The expenses incurred in the prosecution or defense of legal proceedings, of which there are two kinds, those between party and party, and those between attorney and client.

Count. In common law pleadings, is a section of a declaration.

County Court. Local courts established throughout the country.

Covenant. An agreement under seal.

Coverture. The state of a married woman as being under the protection and influence of her husband or baron. She is called a feme covert.

Coalers. Coal roads. A term usually applied on stock exchanges to describe the Reading, Lackawanna, Delaware and Hudson, and Jersey Central Railroads. Cocket. A custom house warrant to show that goods have been entered.

Collaterals. Stocks, bonds, notes, or other value, given in pledge as security when money is borrowed. Collateral Security. Security for the payment of money or the performance of covenants in addition to a principal promise or bond, e. g., a warehouse receipt or a paid-up insurance policy given as security for the payment of a promissory note would be collateral. Combine. A word expressing the same meaning as "trust" and supposed not to be quite so distasteful to the opponents of monopolies.

Commercial Paper. Negotiable paper, such as drafts, bills of exchange, etc., given in the due course of business.

Common Stock. The ordinary shares in a corpora

tion.

Compromise. An agreement embracing mutual 'concessions.

Concern. The business itself considered as a person independent of its ownership.

Consign. To send goods or property to an agent or broker. The sender of the goods is a consignor; the receiver is a consignee, and the goods or things sent are a consignment.

It

Consols. A contraction of "consolidated." represents the consolidation of Great Britain's bonded debt, and is the leading English funded government security.

Contango. (London Stock Exchange.) A rate paid for carrying shares over until next settlement day. When a broker desires to" continue shares" or to postpone the day of payment or delivery, the premium paid is called in the seller's case" backwardation" and, in the buyer's case, "contango."

Conversion. Bonds are frequently issued with a provision whereby they can at any moment be exchanged for equivalent stock. Such securities are called "convertible," and the act of substitution is called "conversion."

Corner. An artificial scarcity created by holding property off the market for the extortion of abnormally high prices. Where the purchases of any party or parties exceed the amount of contract grain in regular warehouses on the last delivery day of the month for which such purchases have been made, the grain so bought is said to be cornered.

Corporation. A corporate body authorized by law to act as a single individual.

Coupon Bonds. Bonds payable to bearer without any registration of the owner's name anywhere. The interest in these bonds is evidenced by coupons which, when they become due, are cut off the original bond and collected.

Cover. The buying in of grain or stocks to fill short contracts is called "covering."

Covering Shorts. Buying in property to fill contracts (usually for future delivery) previously made. Coasting. A sailing near land, or trade carried on between ports in the same country.

C. O. D. Collect on delivery. Goods sent by express marked in this way must be accompanied by the bill for them. This bill is collected and receipted by the messenger of the express company, before delivering the goods.

Commerce. Interchange of values or commodities. Common Carrier. One who makes it a business to transport goods: railroad companies are common carriers.

Counterfeit. A forgery; spurious bank bills. Countersign. To sign, as secretary or subordinate officer, a writing which has been signed by the superior. Coupon. An interest certificate attached to a bond; when paid, it is cut off.

Cross-Examination. The interrogation of a witness by or on behalf of the party against whom the evidence is given. Credentials. Testimonials; that which gives credit or authority.

Custom. A law, not written, established by long use, and the consent of our ancestors; if it be universal, it is common law; if particular, it is then properly custom. Customs. Duties levied on commodities exported and imported.

Curb. Prices made by private transactions not in trading hours are called curb markets.

Curbstone Market. A hanger-on of Board of Trade or Stock Exchanges, who does business on the sidewalk. An irregular speculator, with the street for his place of business, and for his office his hat.

Currency. Money in current use. Custom House. A government place where imported goods are entered and duties collected.

Damages. The amount of money awarded by a jury, to be paid by a defendant to a plaintiff, as a compensation for the injury of which the latter complains.

Days of Grace. Usually three days allowed for the payment of a note after maturity.

Debenture Bonds. Concentration of floating capitalization into convenient bonded form. Originally, notes in the form of bonds.

Debenture. A written instrument of the nature of a bond or bill for a certain sum of money.

De Bonis Non. When an administrator dies, the right does not descend to his own representative, but a fresh grant of administration must be obtained of the goods remaining unadministered, and which is called an administration de bonis non.

Declaration. In an action at law, signifies the plaintiff's statement of his cause of action.

Declaration of Trust. A written or verbal expression or statement, by which a person acknowledges himself to be a trustee for another. If relating to lande, it must be in writing.

Deed. A writing sealed and delivered by the parties to it.

De Facto. A thing actually done or existing. Default (judgment by). If a defendant omits to appear or plead to an action, within the time allowed, the plaintiff can sign judgment by default.

Defaulter. A person who neglects to perform an act required to be done.

Defeasance. A collateral deed made at the same time with some other deed, and containing certain conditions which may defeat or render null and void the provisions of such other deed.

Defendant. The party against whom an action or suit is brought.

Demesne. Lands which formerly the lord kept in his own hands, being next to his mansion.

Demise. A word used in conveyances of estates for terms of years.

Demurrage. A compensation or allowance for detaining a ship beyond the usual or specified time.

Demurrer. A mode of raising a point of law, upon the facts stated in the pleadings, assuming them to be Deposition. The testimony of a witness taken down in writing and signed by him.

true.

Devise. The giving away of lands or other real estate by will.

Debtor. A party who owes a debt; one who owes another money, goods, or services.

Delivery Day. The first trading day of the month is usually called delivery day, but, as all transactions are at the option of the seller, he may select and deliver the grain on any day of the month for which it has been sold.

Disfranchise. To take away from certain places or persons any privilege, freedom, or liberty.

Disseisin. A wrongful invasion of the possession of another, and turning him out from the occupation of his lands, either by force or surprise.

Distress. The distraining or taking the effects of a tenant, in order to satisfy the rent due to his landlord. Dishonor. To refuse to accept a draft, or to pay a note of acceptance.

Direct Evidence. Evidence which applies directly to the fact to be proved.

Discount. In mercantile transactions, a discount means a deduction of a certain amount from the face of a bill for cash. In banking, a discount means the deduction of a certain amount from the face value of a note or bill, as a payment for allowing the holder of the note the immediate use of the money; the rate of discount varies.

Dividend. A portion allotted to stockholders in dividing the profits.

Domicile. The domicile of a person is where he has his permanent home. There are three sorts of domiciles -by birth, by choice, and by operation of law.

Dower. A widow is entitled, at the death of her husband, to a life interest in a third part of the estates of inheritance of which her husband was seised, and did not dispose of by deed or will.

Domiciliated. A negotiable instrument payable in a different place from that in which it is drawn is domiciliated where payable.

Donee. One to whom a gift is made or a bequest is given.

Donor. One who gives or bestows. Dormant. Not acting; a partner who takes no share in the active business of the concern, but shares in the gains or losses.

Drop. In stocks or grain it is equivalent to a "break" except that it may be due to wholly natural causes. Draft. A bill of exchange used for domestic purposes.

Drawback. Duty refunded on exported goods. Drawee. One on whom a draft is drawn; the payor. Drawer. One who draws a bill or draft. Duress. Anything done under compulsion and through unavoidable necessity.

Dun. Το press urgently the payment of a debt. Duty. A government tax paid on goods imported or exported.

Duplicate. A copy or transcript of anything. Easement. A convenience which one has in or over the lands of another, as a way or a water course. Earnest. A pledge, like money deposited, affords good grounds for reliance.

Effects. Goods or property of any kind.

sion of lands.

Ejectment. An action at law to recover the possesElegit. A writ of execution under which all the debtor's lands may be seized or extended, and held by the judgment creditor until his judgment is satisfied. Embezzlement. The act of appropriating that which is received in trust for another, which is a criminal offense.

Embargo. Prohibition of vessels from sailing. Embarrassment. Financial distress; on the verge of bankruptcy.

Embassy. A public message or commission; the person by whom it is sent.

Emporium.

A commercial center.

Enfeoff (To). The act of conveying an estate of freehold by deed of feoffment.

Enfranchisement.

The admittance of a person into a society or body politic. Enfranchisement of copyholds is a conversion of copyholds into freehold tenure. Engrossing. A style of writing, not now generally used, for deeds, but still used for the probates of wills. Enrollment. The registering of deeds as required by certain statutes; as, for instance, deeds conveying lands to charitable uses.

Entail. That inheritance whereof a man is seized to him and the heirs of his body. Tail-general is where lands and tenements are given to one, and the heirs of his body generally. Tenant in Tail-special is where the gift is restrained to certain heirs of the donee's body, as male or female.

Entry. A record of a business transaction; depositing of a ship's papers at custom house to procure license to land goods.

Endorse. To write one's name on the back of a check, note, or draft.

Equitable Mortgage. The most familiar instance is the deposit (either with or without a memorandum, although it is better to have one) of the title deeds of an estate by way of security, which constitutes an equitable mortgage without the execution of any formal mortgage deed.

Equity of Redemption. The right which equity gives to a mortgager of redeeming his estate after the appointed time for payment has passed, and which right can only be barred by a foreclosure.

Equity. In law, qualifying or correcting the law in extreme cases.

Error. A writ of error is a commission to judges of a superior court, by which they are authorized to examine the record upon which a judgment was given in an inferior court, and to affirm, reverse, or vary the same, according to law.

Errors Excepted. A phrase inserted as a proviso, that the person who renders a statement may have the power of correcting any mistake that he may have committed.

Escheat. Is where lands, for want of heirs, or from forfeiture, escheat or fall back to the sovereign or lord of the fee as the original grantor.

Estate. The interest which a person has in lands, or other property.

Estoppel. Where a man is precluded in law from alleging or denying a fact in consequence of his own previous act, allegation, or denial to the contrary.

Estreat. Where a recognizance becomes forfeited by any of its conditions being broken, it is estreated; that is, extracted from the record, and sent up to the Exchequer, whence a process will issue to recover the penalty.

Evidence. Proof, either written or unwritten, of the facts in issue in any legal proceeding.

Excise. A tax or impost charge by government on certain commodities.

Execution. The act of putting the sentence of the law into force.

Executor. One appointed by a person's last will to administer his personal estate.

Exhibits. Documents, etc., produced in evidence, and marked for the purpose of identification.

Ex Officio. Anything done by virtue of an office. An information filed by the attorney-general, by virtue of his office, is called an Ex Officio-Information.

Ex Parte. A statement is called ex parte where only one of the parties gives an account of a transaction, in which two or more are concerned.

Ex Post Facto. An ex post facto law is a law made purposely to restrain or punish an offense already committed.

Extrajudicial. Any act done by a judge beyond his authority, or any opinion expressed by him not strictly pertinent to the matter in issue before him.

will be exhausted. If trades are not re-margined they Exhaust Price. The point at which one's margins are likely to be closed out by the broker at the exhaust price, if it is reached by the market.

Exchange. Act of bartering; a bill drawn for money; a place where merchants meet; a difference between the value of money in two places, or the premium and discount arising from the purchase and sale of funds. Executory. Yet to be performed.

Exports. Goods or produce carried abroad in com

Factor. An agent intrusted with the possession of goods for sale belonging to his principal. A broker, on the other hand, has not the custody of the goods of his principal.

Faculty. A privilege or dispensation granted by an ecclesiastical court in certain cases.

False Pretenses. The criminal offense of obtaining any chattel, money, or valuable security by means of a false pretense; it is punishable by transportation, fine, or imprisonment.

Face. The amount expressed on a note or draft.
Failure. Act of becoming insolvent.

Facsimile. An exact copy.

Fancy Stocks. Term applied to stocks subject to sudden fluctuation in price.

Favor. A note or draft is said to be in favor of the payee.

Fee Simple. That estate or interest in lands which a person holds to him and his heirs forever. During his life he possesses over it a perfectly free and unrestrained power of disposition, and on his death, without having alienated ít by deed or will, it descends to his heirs, both lineal and collateral, male and female, according to an established order of descent.

Felony. Formerly defined as comprising "all capital crimes below treason." It may now more accurately be defined as comprising all crimes occasioning a forfeiture of lands or goods or both.

Feme Covert. A married woman. Feme Sole. An unmarried woman. Feoffment. A mode of conveyance of lands in fee, accompanied by certain solemnities. It is rarely, if ever, now used.

Fiat. An order or warrant for a thing to be done er executed.

Fieri Facias. A writ of execution, by which the sheriff is commanded to levy the debt and damages of the goods and chattels of the defendant.

Finding. A finder of goods may appropriate them to his own use if he really believes when he takes them that the owner cannot be found; but if a jury should say that the finder appropriated the goods, not having (or that he could reasonably be supposed not to have had) such belief at the time of appropriation, it amounts to a theft, and can be punished criminally.

Finding a Bill. The grand jury either find or ignore the bills against prisoners; if they find a true bill, the case goes into court, and is tried.

Fire Policy. An instrument by which an insurance company guarantees to a person, who has insured his property, the payment of a sum of money, if it is injured or destroyed by fire.

Fixtures. This term is generally used to denote those personal chattels which, though annexed to the freehold of demised premises, a tenant is nevertheless entitled to remove. They consist of trade fixtures, and of those put up for the ornament or convenience of the premises.

Finance. Revenue; income; pertaining to money. Financier. An officer of finance; one having charge of the revenue.

Firm. A partnership, trading house, or its name. Fiscal. Pertaining to a treasury or revenue. Flat. A term signifying that stocks are sold without reference to accumulated interest; low in price; dull as

to sales.

F. O. B. includes the transporting to the shipping port and all the shipping expenses.

Foreign Exchange. Drafts drawn on the financial centers of Europe; for instance, London, Berlin, or Paris. Drafts on London are called Sterling Exchange, as they are drawn in pounds sterling. Franchise. A royal privilege to which a subject is entitled as a fair, a market, a free warren, a park. Fraud. A dishonest and illegal artifice, by which undue advantage is taken of another, or by which the interests of that other are unjustly prejudiced. Fraud strikes at the root of every transaction, and vitiates every contract, whether by record, deed, or otherwise. Freehold. Land held in fee simple, fee tail, or at least for life.

Freight. The remuneration due to the owner of a ship for the conveyance of goods or merchandise, on which he has a lien for the freight. Franc. A French silver coin, value about twenty

cents.

Frank. A free letter.

Free Trade. The policy of conducting international commerce without duties. Fractional Orders. Orders for less than 5,000 bushels of grain or 100 shares of stock are called fractional orders, as the above amounts represent the units of speculation. Fractional orders are entirely regular, both on the Chicago Board of Trade and the Stock Exchanges. Orders are executed in 1,000 bushel lots of wheat, but not in corn or oats. Neither is there any market for small quantities of provisions or cotton. Frozen Out. Said of deals or trades closed out compulsorily because of inability to further protect contracts with re-margins.

Funded Debt. The public debt of this country, consisting of an immense sum which, from time to time, has been lent to government by individuals, and which they or their assigns receive interest for, out of the taxes.

Future Estates. Estates not in possession, but in expectancy, as a remainder.

Funds. Stock or capital, a sum of money. Funded. Put into a permanent loan on which an annual interest is paid.

Futures. Buyers of cash grain protect themselves against possible loss by selling an agreed amount for future delivery in some general market, usually Chicago. Such contracts are called futures because they do not terminate until some designated month in the future. These transactions pass from hand to hand and may be turned over hundreds and thousands of times in an active market before maturity, and this is called dealing in futures. Nearly all speculative operations are in futures.

Garnishee. The party in whose hands money, due to a defendant, is attached.

Gain. Profit; benefit; increase in wealth. Gauging. Measuring the contents of casks, etc. Gist. The main point of a case; the turning point. Gift. A voluntary conveyance or gift of lands or goods. If of the former, it is liable to be defeated in the lifetime of the grantor, by his conveying the same lands to a purchaser, for a valuable consideration, even though with notice of the prior gift.

Gold and Silver Certificates. Certificates issued by the United States government, circulating as money, on the security of gold deposited with the government for that purpose, or of silver coin belonging to itself. Gross Weight. Weight of goods including case, bag, etc.

Grace, Days of. The name given to the days of indulgence allowed to the acceptor of a bill of exchange after it becomes due. The number of such days varies in different countries. In some, as in France, they are abolished altogether. In England, three days are allowed, so that a bill at a month drawn on the first of one month, will become due on the fourth of the next.

Grand Jury. The jury to whom all bills of indictment are referred in the first instance. It is the duty of this jury to interrogate the witnesses for the prosecution, and ascertain whether or not a prima facíe case is made out against the prisoner; if so, they find a true bill, and he takes his trial; if not, they ignore the bill, and he is discharged.

Grant. A mode of conveyance, formerly applicable only to incorporeal hereditaments, reversions, etc.; but its significance has been extended by a recent statute, and it is now the instrument most usually employed in the conveyance of land.

Granger Roads. Western railroads. This term was originally applied in Wall street to the Chicago and Northwestern, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul roads, but is now employed on Stock Exchanges to designate those railroads which handle principally farm produce.

Gross. Whole; entire; total; specifically without deduction, as for damage or waste material; without allowance of tare, opposed to net, as gross sum or amount, gross profits, income or weight.

Guaranty. An engagement to be responsible for the debts or duties of a third person.

Guarantor. A warrantor.

Guaranteed Stock. Stocks of leased or subsidiary company guaranteed by the principal company.

Habeas Corpus. A writ of right for those who are grieved by illegal imprisonment. The Habeas Corpus Act is next in importance to Magna Charta, for, so long as this statute remains, no subject of England can long be detained in prison, except under legal process.

Habendum. One of the formal parts of a deed: its office is to limit or define the estate granted. It is so called because it begins with the words "to have." Harbor. A place of rest or safety for ships; a port for loading and unloading.

Heir. The legal representative of his ancestor, with respect to the real property of such ancestor. He takes all the real property not otherwise disposed of by the ancestor in his lifetime or by his will.

Heir Apparent. Is one whose right of inheritance is certain, and which nothing can defeat, provided he outlives his ancestor; as the eldest son or issue. Heir presumptive is one who would inherit, provided his ancestor were to die at that particular time, but whose right of inheritance might be defeated by some nearer heir being afterwards born; as a brother or nephew, whose presumptive succession may be destroyed by the birth of a child. Heirlooms.

Such personal chattels as go to the heir along with the inheritance, and not to the executor of the deceased.

Hereditaments. All things which may be inherited, that is, which would descend to the heir, if not disposed

of by deed or will. Hereditaments are of two kinds,

corporeal and incorporeal.

Ignore. When the grand jury reject a bill of indictment, they are said to ignore it, from the Latin word ignoramus.

Illegal Condition. A condition annexed to any thing which is illegal, immoral, impossible, or otherwise contrary to law.

Immoral Contracts. Contracts infringing the rules of morality which, for reasons of public policy, are void at law.

Impaneling. Writing in a parchment schedule the names of the jury by the sheriff.

Import. To bring from another country. Importer. One who brings goods from abroad. Impost. Duty on goods paid by the importer. Incorporeal Hereditaments. Hereditaments of a non-tangible nature, and consisting of rights or benefits issuing out of corporal or tangible things,-as a rent, an advowson, etc.

Incumbent. The present possessor of an ecclesiastical benefice.

Incumbrance. A charge or lien upon property, as a mortgage.

Indemnity. A written instrument whereby one undertakes to free another from responsibility. Indenture. A deed or writing, formerly cut or in

dented; now the name usually given to deeds, although indenting is no longer essential. Indictment. A written accusation of one or more persons, of a crime or misdemeanor, preferred to, and presented on oath, by a grand jury.

Indorsement. Anything written on the back of a deed or other instrument; such as a bill of exchange. till he has attained the age of twenty-one years. Infant. Every person is by the law styled an infant

Inheritance. An estate in lands or tenements to a man and his heirs.

Injunction. A prohibitory writ granted by the Court of Chancery forbidding certain acts to be done under pain of contempt. It may be granted in urgent cases ex parte, but notice is sometimes required to be given.

take into consideration certain matters, which may ap Inquest. A meeting of jurors, who are summoned te pear in evidence before them, and to bring in thei verdict accordingly.

Inquiry (writ of). A writ directed to the sheriff, commanding him to summon a jury and assess the damages in an action; as, for instance, when the defendant has suffered judgment by default.

Insolvency. The state of a person who is unable to pay his debts.

Insurance. A security or indemnification against the risk of loss from the happening of certain events. The usual kinds are fire and marine.

Interpleader. When two or more persons claim the same thing of a third, the latter may call upon them to interplead, i. e., to try the right to it between themselves; he, the third person, retaining possession of the thing in the meantime, as a kind of stakeholder. Interrogatories. Written questions to which the parties interrogated are to give written answers on oath. Intestate. A person dying without a will, or, having made a will, without appointing an executor thereof. Innuendo. That part of the declaration, in actions of libel and slander, which explains the meaning, or points the application, of the libelous or slanderous matter complained of.

In Re. In the matter of.

Installment. Part of a sum of money paid or to be

paid from time to time.

Interest. The use of money; premium paid for the use of money.

Investment. The laying out of money in the purchase of property.

Inventory. A list of goods.

Invoice. A list of goods bought or sold, or consigned. In Sight. Said of stocks of grain, cotton, coffee, or other merchandise, available for immediate use. Grain stored in private warehouses, or held by producers, is not usually included in the supply "in sight."

Inspection. Grain received at Chicago is inspected and graded by sworn inspectors under rules established by the Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners, appointed by the state of Illinois. From this inspection, if not satisfactory, an appeal may be taken to the Inspection Committee of the Board of Trade. In

other states similar laws exist.

I. O. U. A written acknowledgment of a debt. This instrument is regarded in a court of law as evidence of an account stated. It is not a promissory note and does not require a stamp.

Issue. The disputed point or question to which the parties in an action have, by pleading, narrowed their several allegations, and are hence said to join issue. If it be an issue of fact, it is tried by a jury, if of law, by the court. Issue is also the legal terin for children or remoter descendants.

Jettison. A voluntary throwing of goods overboard at sea in a storm to lighten the ship.

Joinder in Action. The coupling or joining twe parties in one suit or action.

Joint Tenants. Persons who hold lands, etc., jointly by one title. On the death of one the survivor takes the whole.

Jointure. A settlement of lands or tenements on a woman, to take effect after her husband's death in lieu of dower.

Journal. A book used to classify and arrange business transactions.

Judgment. The sentence of the law pronounced by the court upon the matter contained in the record.

Jury. A certain number of men sworn to deliver a verdict upon such evidence of facts as shall be delivered to them, touching the matter in question.