Bro. P. C. 550; 4 Johns. 235; 5 Mass. 301, 392; 2 Day, 22; but a contract under seal cannot be held a nudum pactum for lack of consideration, since the seal imports consideration; 2 B. & Ald. 551. See CONSIDERATION; MAXIMS, Ex nudo pacto; 2 Bla. Com. 445; 16 Vin. Abr. 16. NUISANCE. smoke, and disturbance than those living elsewhere, and the circumstances of every case must govern; 21 Conn. 213; 58 Penn. 275; 54 Me. 272. Carrying on an offensive trade for several years in a place remote from buildings and public roads does not entitle the owner to continue it in the same place after houses have been built and roads laid out in the neighborhood, to the occupants of and travellers upon which it is a nuisance. For Any thing that unlawfully worketh hurt, inconvenience, or damage. 3 Bla. Com. 5, 216. That class of wrongs that arise from the un-merly the contrary doctrine obtained, on the reasonable, unwarrantable, or unlawful use by a person of his own property, either real or personal, or from his own improper, indecent, or unlawful personal conduct, working an obstruction of or to the right of another or of the public, and producing such material annoyance, inconvenience, discomfort, or hurt that the law will presume a consequent damage. Wood, Nuisance. A private nuisance is anything done to the hurt or annoyance of the lands, tenements, or hereditaments of another. It produces damage to but one or a few persons, and cannot be said to be public; 36 N. Y. 297; 35 N. H. 357; 5 R. I. 185; Adams, Eq. 210; 3 Bla. Com. 215. A public or common nuisance is such an inconvenience or troublesome offence as annoys the whole community in general, and not merely some particular person. It produces no special injury to one more than another of the people; 1 Hawk. Pl. Cr. 197; 4 Bla. Com. 166. A mixed nuisance is one which, while producing injury to the public at large, does some special damage to some individual or class of individuals; Wood, Nuisance, 22. ground that the complainants were in fault in coming to a nuisance. This doctrine is now very properly exploded, as it is manifest that an observance of it would interfere greatly with the growth of towns and cities; 6 Gray, 473; 7 Blackf. 534; 2 C. & P. 483; 7 East, 191; 23 Wend. 446; 8 Phila. 10; 5 Scott, 500; 3 Barb. 167. The trade may be offensive for noise; 51 N. Y. 300; 10 L. T. (N. S.) 241; 2 Bing. 34; Keames, Sel. Dec. 175; L. R. 4 Ch. App. 388; 2 Sim. N. s. 133; L. R. 8 Ch. App. 467; 2 Show. 327; 22 Vt. 321; 6 Cush. 80; or smell; 2 C. & P. 485; 13 Metc. Mass. 365; 1 Denio, 524; 34 Tex. 230; 100 Mass. 597; 33 Conn. 121; 43 N. H. 415; or for other reasons; 1 Johns. 78; 1 Swan, 213; Thach. Crim. Cas. 14; 3 East, 192; 3 Jur. N. s. 570; 73 Penn. 84; L. R. 5 Eq. Ca. 166; 52 N. H. 262. To constitute a public nuisance, there must be such a number of persons annoyed that the offence can no longer be considered a private nuisance; 1 Burr. 337; 4 Esp. 200; 1 Stra. 686, 704; 2 Chitty, Crim. Law, 607, n.; 8 Ind. 494; 1 Wheat. 469; 37 Barb. 301. Public nuisances arise in consequence of following particular trades, by which the air rendered offensive and noxious; Cro. Car. 510; Hawk. Pl. Cr. b. 1, c. 75, § 10; 2 Ld. Raym. 1163; 1 Burr. 333; 1 Stra. 686; 4 B. & S. 608; 23 Vt. 92; from acts of public indecency, as bathing in a public river in sight of the neighboring houses; 1 Russell, Crimes, 302; 2 Campb. 89; Sid. 168; 29 Ind. 517; 18 Vt. 574; 5 Barb. 203; 20 Ala. 65; 5 Rand. 627; or for acts tending to a breach of the public peace, as for drawing a number of persons into a field for the purpose of pigeon-shooting, to the disturbance of the neighborhood; 3 B. & Ald. 184; or for rude and riotous sports or pastimes; 5 Hill, 121; 1 Mod. 76; 8 Cow. 169; 3 Keb. 510; 1 S. & R. 40; 6 C. P. 324; or keeping a disorderly house; 1 Russell, Crimes, 298; 13 Gray, 26; 5 Cranch, 304; 8 Blackf. 208; 1 Salk. 282; 30 N. J. 103; or a gaming-house; Hawk. Pl. Cr. b. 1, c. 75, § 6; or a bawdyhouse; Hawk. Pl. Cr. b. 1. c. 74 § 1; 9 Conn. 350; 13 Gray, 26; 26 N. Y. 190; 54 Barb. 299; or a dangerous animal, known to be Such an establishment might be a nuis- such, and suffering him to go at large, as a ance in a thickly populated town of merchants large bulldog accustomed to bite people; 4 and mechanics where no such business was Burn, Just. 578; 90 B. 101; 28 Wisc. 430; carried on; 3 Grant, 302. The same doc-40 Vt. 347; or exposing a person having a trine obtains as regards other trades or em- contagious disease, as the smallpox, in pubployments. Persons living in populous manulie; 4 M. & S. 73, 472; and the like. The facturing towns must expect more noise, It is difficult to say what degree of annoy-is ance constitutes a nuisance. If a thing is calculated to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of a man's house, it is a nuisance; 3 Jur. N. s. 571. In relation to offensive trades, it seems that when such a trade renders the enjoyment of life and property uncomfortable it is a nuisance; 1 Burr. 333; 5 Esp. 217; 13 Allen, 95; 116 E. C. L. 608; 45 Cal. 55; 35 Iowa, 221; for the neighborhood have a right to pure and fresh air; 2 C. & P. 485; 6 Rog. 61; 26 L. T. (N. s.) 277; 22 N. J. 26; 58 Penn. 275; 4 B. & S. 608. A thing may be a nuisance in one place which is not so in another; therefore the situation or locality of the nuisance must be considered. A tallow-chandler, for example, setting up his business among other tallowchandlers, and increasing the noxious smells of the neighborhood, is not guilty of setting up a nuisance unless the annoyance is much increased by the new manufactory; Peake, 91. bringing a horse infected with the glanders NUL AGARD 317 NULLITY OF MARRIAGE S. 570. NUL DISSEISIN. In Pleading. No disseisin. A plea in a real action, by which the defendant denies that there was any disseisin. It is a species of the general issue. into a public place, to the danger of infecting there was no legal award made. 3 Burr. the citizens, is a misdemeanor at common 1730; 2 Stra. 923. law; Dearsl. Cr. Cas. 24; 2 H. & N. 299; 16 Conn. 272; 41 Barb. 329. The selling of tainted and unwholesome food is likewise indictable; 4 N. C. L. 309; 3 Hawks. 376; 3 M. & S. 11. The leaving unburied the corpse NUL TIEL RECORD (Fr. no such of a person for whom the defendant was A plea which is bound to provide Christian burial, as a wife record). In Pleading. or child, is an indictable nuisance, if he is proper when it is proposed to rely upon facts shown to have been of ability to provide such which disprove the existence of the record on which the plaintiff founds his action. burial; 2 Den. Cr. Cas. 325. See 3 Jur. N. Any matters may be introduced under it So of storing combustible articles in which tend to destroy the validity of the undue quantities or in improper places; 56 record as a record, provided they do not conBarb. 72.; 3 East, 192; 57 Penn. 274; 2 Hen.tradict the recitals of the record itself; 10 & M. 345; or the erection and maintenance Ohio, 100. It is frequently used to enable of purprestures; Story, Eq. § 921; 9 Wend. 571; 28 N. Y. 396; 55 Barb. 404; 10 Pet. the defendant to deny the jurisdiction of the court from which the alleged record emanates; 623; 23 Vt. 92; 2 Wall. 403; 10 id. 557. 2 McLean, 129; 22 Wend. 293. Private nuisances may be to corporeal inheritances: as, for example, if a man should build his house so as to throw the rain-water which fell on it on my land; Fitzherbert, Nat. Brev. 184; 39 Barb. 400; 5 Rep. 101; keep hogs or other animals so as to incommode his neighbor and render the air unwholesome; 9 Co. 58; or to incorporeal hereditaments ; as, for example, obstructing a right of way by ploughing it up or laying logs across it, and the like; Fitzherbert, Nat. Brev. 183; 2 Rolle, Abr. 140; or obstructing a spring; 1 Campb. 463; 6 East, 208; interfering with a franchise, as a ferry or railroad, by a similar erection unlawfully made. It is impossible to state here a list of the offences held to be nuisances. Any annoyance arising from odors, smoke, unhealthy exhalations, noise, interference with water-power, etc. etc., whereby a man is prevented from fully enjoying his own property, may be ranked as a private nuisance. It is said to be the proper plea to an action ter state, in the United States; 2 Leigh, 72; on a foreign judgment, especially if of a sis6 id. 570; 17 Vt. 302; 6 Pick. 232; 11 Miss. 210; 1 Penn. 499; 2 South. 778; 2 Breese, 2; though it is held that nil debet is sufficient; 33 Me. 268; 3 J. J. Marsh. 600; of the peace; 3 Harr. N. J. 408. See CONespecially if the judgment be that of a justice FLICT OF LAWS. NUL TORT (L. Fr. no wrong). In Pleading. A plea to a real action, by which the defendant denies that he committed any wrong. It is a species of general issue. NULL. Properly, that which does not exist; that which is not in the nature of things. In a figurative sense it signifies that which has no more effect than if it did not exist. 8 Toullier, n. 320. NUL WASTE. In Pleading. The general issue in an action of waste; Co. 3d Inst. 700 a, 708 a. The plea of nul waste admits nothing, but puts the whole declaration in issue; and in support of this plea the defendant may give in evidence any thing which proves that the act charged is no waste, The remedies are by an action for the dam-as that it happened by tempest, lightning, age done, by the owner, in the case of a pri- and the like; Co. Litt. 283 a; 3 Wms. vate nuisance; 3 Bla. Com. 220; or by any Saund. 238, n. 5. party suffering special damage, in the case of a public nuisance; 4 Wend. 9; 3 Vt. 529; 1 Penn. 309; Cart!.. 194; Vaugh. 341; 3 M. & S. 472; 2 Bingh. 283; 1 Esp. 148; 28 Vt. 142; 36 Cal. 193; 2 R. I. 493; by abatement by the owner, when the nuisance is private; Rolle, Abr. 565; Rolle, 394; 3 Bulstr. 198; 3 Dowl. & R. 556; 37 Penn. 503; 8 Dana, 158; and in some cases when it is public; 9 Co. 55; 2 Salk. 458; 3 Bla. Com. 5. But in neither case must there be any riot, and very pressing exigency is requisite to justify summary action of this character, particularly in the case of a public nuisance; 14 Wend. 397; 11 Ark. 252; 16 Q. B. 546; by injunction, which is the most usual and efficacious remedy; see INJUNCTION; or by indictment for a public nuisance; 2 Bish. Crim. Law, § 856; Whart. Crim. Law (2 ed.) § 1410, etc. See Wood on Nuisance. NUL AGARD (L. Fr. no award). In Pleading. A plea to an action on an arbitration bond, when the defendant avers that NULLA BONA (L. Lat. no goods). The return made to a writ of fieri facias by the sheriff, when he has not found any goods of the defendant on which he could levy. 3 Bouvier, Inst. n. 3393. NULLITY. An act or proceeding which has absolutely no legal effect whatever. See Chitty, Contr. 228. NULLITY OF MARRIAGE. The re quisites of a valid and binding marriage have been considered in the article on that subject. If any of these requisites are wanting in a given case, the marriage is either absolutely void, or voidable at the election of one or both of the parties. The more usual imperfections which thus render a marriage void or voidable are: 1. Unsoundness of mind in either of the parties. 2. Want of age; i. e., 3. fourteen in males and twelve in females. Fraud or error; but these must relate to the essentials of the relation, as personal identity, and not merely to the accidentals, as character, condition, or fortune. 4. Duress. 5. Physical impotence, which must exist at the time of the marriage and be incurable. Consanguinity or affinity within the prohibited degrees. 7. A prior subsisting marriage of either of the parties. The fifth and sixth are termed canonical, the remainder, civil impediments. 6. The distinction between the two is important, the latter rendering the marriage absolutely void, while the former only renders it voidable. In the one case, it is not necessary (though it is certainly advisable) to bring a suit to have nullity of the marriage ascertained and declared: it may be treated by the parties as no marriage, and will be so regarded in all judicial proceedings. In the other case, the marriage will be treated as valid and binding until its nullity is ascertained and declared by a competent court in a suit instituted for that purpose; and this must be done during the lifetime of both parties: if it is deferred until the death of either, the marriage will always remain good. But the effect of such sentence of nullity, when obtained, is to render the marriage null and void from the beginning, as in the case of civil impediments. For the origin and history of this distinction between void and voidable marriages, see Bish. Marr. & D. c. 4. A suit for nullity is usually prosecuted in the same court, and is governed by substantially the same principles, as a suit for divorce; Bish. Marr. & D. c. 15. In its consequences, a sentence of nullity differs materially from a divorce. The latter assumes the original validity of the marriage, and its operation is entirely prospective. The former renders the marriage void from the beginning, and nullifies all its legal results. The parties are to be regarded legally as if no marriage had ever taken place: they are single persons, if before they were single; their issue are illegitimate; and their rights of property as between themselves are to be viewed as having never been operated upon by the marriage. Thus, the man loses all right to the property, whether real or personal, which belongs to the woman; and the woman loses her right to dower; Bish. Marr. & D. §§ 647, 659. Neither is the woman, upon a sentence of nullity, entitled to permanent alimony; though the better opinion is that she is entitled to alimony pendente lite; Bish. Marr. & D. §§ 563, 579-580. See ALIMONY. NULLIUS FILIUS (Lat.). The son of no one; a bastard. A bastard is considered nullius filius as far as regards his right to inherit. But the rule of nullius filius does not apply in other respects, and has been changed by statute in most states so as to make him the child of his mother. The mother of a bastard, during its age of nurture, is entitled to the custody of her child, and is bound to maintain it; 6 S. & R. 255; 2 Johns. 375; 15 id. 208; 2 Mass. 109; 12 id. 387, 433; 4 B. & P. 148. But see 5 East, 224, n. The putative father, too, is entitled to the custody of the child as against all but the mother; 1 Ashm. 55. And it seems that the putative father may maintain an action, as if his child were legitimate, for marrying him without his consent, contrary to law. Add. Penn. 212. See BASTARD; CHILD; FATHER; MOTHER; PUTATIVE FATHER. NULLUM ARBITRIUM (Lat.). In Pleading. The name of a plea to an action on an arbitration bond for not fulfilling the award, by which the defendant asserts that there is no award. NULLUM FECERUNT ARBI TRIUM (Lat.). In Pleading. The name of a plea to an action of debt upon an obligation for the performance of an award, by which the defendant denies that he submitted to arbitration, etc. Bacon, Abr. Arbitr. etc. (G). NULLUM TEMPUS ACT. The statute 3 Geo. III. c. 16. See 32 Geo. III. c. 58, and 7 Will. c. 3. It was so called because the right of the crown to sue, etc., was limited by it to sixty years, in contradiction to the maxim, Nullum tempus occurrit regi; 3 Chitty, Stat. 63. NUMBER. A collection of units. In pleading, numbers must be stated truly when alleged in the recital of a record, written instrument, or express contract; Lawes, Pl. 48; 4 Term, 314; Cro. Car. 262; Dougl. 669; 2 W. Blackst. 1104. But in other cases it is not, in general, requisite that they should be truly stated; because they are not required to be strictly proved. If, for example, in an action of trespass the plaintiff proves the wrongful taking away of any part of the goods duly described in his declaration, he is entitled to recover pro tanto; Bacon, Abr. Trespass (I 2); Lawes, Pl. 48. And sometimes, when the subject to be described is supposed to comprehend a multiplicity of particulars, a general description is sufficient. A declaration in trover alleging the conversion of a library of books," without stating their number, titles, or quality, was held to be sufficiently certain; 3 Bulstr. 31; Carth. 110; Bacon, Abr. Trover (F 1); and in an action for the loss of goods by burning the plaintiff's house, the articles may be described by the simple denomination of goods" or "divers goods." 1 Kebl. 825; Plowd. 85, 118, 123; Cro. Eliz. 837; 1 H. 66 Blackst. 284. NUNC PRO TUNC NUNC PRO TUNC (Lat. now for then). A phrase used to express that a thing is done at one time which ought to have been performed at another. 819 Leave of court must be obtained to do things nunc pro tune; and this is granted to answer the purposes of justice, but never to do injustice. A judgment nunc pro tunc can be entered only when the delay has arisen from the act of the court; 3 C. B. 970. See 1 V. & B. 312; 1 Moll. 462; 13 Price, 604. A plea puis darrein continuance may be entered nunc pro tunc after an intervening continuation, in some cases; 11 N. H. 299; and lost pleadings may be replaced by new pleadings made nunc pro tunc; 1 Mo. 327. By the Jud. Act of 1875, Ord. xli. r. 2, the entry of a judgment pronounced by a judge in court, shall be dated as of the day on which such judgment is pronounced, and the judgment shall take effect from that date. And in other cases, by r. 3, the entry of judgment shall be dated as of the day on which the requisite documents are left with the proper officer for the purpose of such entry, and the judgment shall take effect from that date. Moz. & W. NUNCIATIO. In Civil Law. A formal proclamation or protest. It may be by acts (realis) or by words. Mackeldey, Civ. Law, § 237. Thus, nunciatio novi operis was an injunction which one man could place on the erection of a new building, etc. near him, until the case was tried by the prætor. Id.; Calv. Lex. An information against a criminal. Calv. Lex. NUNCIO. The name given to the pope's ambassador. Nuncios are ordinary or extraordinary; the former are sent upon usual missions, the latter upon special occasions. NUNCIUS. In International Law. A messenger; a minister; the pope's legate, commonly called a nuncio. NUNCUPATIVE WILL. An oral will, declared by testator in extremis, or under circumstances considered equivalent thereto, before witnesses, and afterwards reduced to writing. 4 Kent. 576; 2 Bla. Com. 500; 1 Jarm. Wills, 130, 136. In early times this kind of will was very common, and before the Statute of Frauds, by which it was virtually abolished, save in the case of soldiers and sailors, was of equal efficacy, except for lands, tenements, and hereditaments, with a written testament. Such wills are subject to manifest abuses, and by stat. 1 Vict. c. 26, $$ 9, 11 (preceded by 1 Will. IV. c. 20), the privilege is confined to soldiers in actual service, and sailors at sea, and extends only to personal estate. Similar provisions have been enacted in Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, and the territory of Montana. In Georgia, the statute embraces both real and personal property. In California and Dakota, the decedent must have been in actual military service, or at sea, and in immediate fear of death. In the other states, nuncupative wills by persons in extremis are still recognized, subject NURTURE to restrictions as to amount of property bequeathed similar to those of the English statute of frauds. The following principles, among others, are well established: Statutes relating to nuncupative wills are strictly construed; 2 Phillim. 194; id. 190; 78 Ill. 287; 47 Penn. 31; 33 Miss. 629. The testator must be in extremis, overtaken by violent sickness, in contemplation of death, and without time to make a written will; 1 Addams. 389; 20 Johns. 502; W. & S. 184; 10 Gratt. 548; but see 2 Ala. (N. S.) 242; 82 Ill. 50; the deceased must have clearly intimated by word or signs to those present that he intended to make the will; 9 B. Monr. 553; 27 Ill. 247; 26 N. H. 372; 14 La. An. 729; 36 Md. 630; 2 Greenl. 298; 63 Ill. 455; 46 Iowa, 694; testamentary capacity must be most clearly proved; 12 Gill & Š. 192; 78 Ill. 287. In "actual military service," is held to mean during warfare, and while on an expedition; 3 Curt. 531; 53 Me. 561; but this rule has been somewhat. freely treated; 39 Vt. 498; 1 Abb. Pr. (U. S.) 112. Sailors must be serving on shipboard; 2 Curt. 339; 2 R. I. 133. mariner applies to every one in the naval or mercantile service; 4 Bradf. 154. See, in general, 1 Wms. Exec. 59; Swinb. Wills; Redf. Wills, 185; Ayliffe, Pand.; Proff. Wills; note to Sykes vs. Sykes, 20 Am. Dec. 44. The term NUNDINA (Law Lat.). In Civil and Old English Law. Fair or fairs. Dion. Halicarnass. lib. 2, p. 98; Vicat, Voc. Jur.; Law Fr. & Lat. Dict. Hence Nundination, traffic at fairs. NUNQUAM INDEBITATUS (Lat. never indebted). In Pleading. A plea to the defendant asserts that he is not indebted an action of indebitatus assumpsit, by which to the plaintiff. 6 C. & P. 545; 1 M. & W. 542; 1 Q. B. 77. In England, this plea has been substituted for nil debet, q.v., as the general issue in debt on a simple contract. NUNTIUS, NUNCIUS. In Old English Practice. One who made excuse for absence of one summoned. An apparitor, Cowel. A messenger beadle, or sergeant. Jacob, Law or legate: e.g. pope's nuncio. Dict. Essoniator was sometimes wrongly used for nuntius in the first sense. Bracton, fol. 345, 2. NUPER OBIIT (Lat. he or she lately died). In Practice. The name of a writ which in the English law lies for a sister coheiress dispossessed by her copareener of lands and tenements whereof their father, brother, or any common ancestor died seised of an estate in fee-simple. Fitzh. N. B. 197. Abolished in 1833. NURTURE. The act of taking care of children and educating them. The right to the nurture of children generally belongs to the father till the child shall arrive at the age of fourteen years, and not longer. Till then he is guardian by nurture; Co. Litt. 38 b. But in special cases the mother will be preferred to the father; 5 Binn. 520; 2 S. & R. 174; and after the death of the father the mother is guardian by nurture. Fleta, l. 1, c. 6; Comyns, Dig. Guardian (D). See 0. a OATH. An outward pledge given by the The form of administering the oath may be person taking it that his attestation or pro- varied to conform to the religious belief of the mise is made under an immediate sense of individual, so as to make it binding upon his his responsibility to God. Tyler, Oaths, 15. conscience; 16 Pick. 154; 2 Gall. 346; 3 The term has been variously defined: as, Park. Cr. 590; 2 Hawkes, 458; 7 Ill. 540; solemn invocation of the vengeance of the Deity Ry. & M. 77. The most common form is upon the witness if he do not declare the whole upon the gospel, by taking the book in the truth, so far as he knows it," 1 Stark. Ev. 22; hand: the words commonly used are, "You or, "a religious asseveration by which a person re- do swear that," etc., "so help you God," nounces the mercy and imprecates the vengeance of Heaven if he do not speak the truth," 2 and then kissing the book; 9 C. & P. 137. Leach, 482; or, as "a religious act by which the The origin of this oath may be traced to the party invokes God not only to witness the truth Roman law; Nov. 8, tit. 3; Nov. 74, cap. and sincerity of his promise, but also to avenge 5; Nov. 124, cap. 1; and the kissing the his imposture or violated faith, or, in other book is said to be an imitation of the priest's words, to punish his perjury if he shall be guilty kissing the ritual, as a sign of reverence, beof it," 10 Toullier, nn. 343-348; Puffendorff, b. 4, c. 2, § 4. The essential idea of an oath fore he reads it to the people; Rees, Cycl. In would seem to be, however, that of a recogni- New England, New York, and in Scotland the tion of God's authority by the party taking it, gospels are not generally used, but the party and an undertaking to accomplish the transaction taking the oath holds up his right hand and reto which it refers as required by his laws. peats the words here given; 1 Leach, 412,498. In its broadest sense, the term is used to include all forms of attestation by which a party signifies that he is bound in conscience to perform the act faithfully and truly. In a more restricted sense, it excludes all those forms of attestation or promise which are not accompanied by an imprecation. Assertory oaths are those required by law other than in judicial proceedings and upon induction to office: such, for example, as custom-house oaths. Extra-judicial oaths are those taken without authority of law. Though binding in foro conscientiæ, they do not, when false, render the party liable to punishment for perjury. Judicial oaths are those administered in judicial proceedings. Promissory or official oaths are oaths taken, by authority of law, by which the party declares that he will fulfil certain duties therein mentioned: as, the oath which an alien takes, on becoming naturalized, that he will support the constitution of the United States: the oath which a judge takes that he will perform the duties of his office. The breach of this does not involve the party in the legal crime or punishment of perjury; 3 Zabr. 49. Where an appointee neglects to take an oath of office when required by statute to do so, he cannot be considered qualified, nor justify his doings as an officer; 2 N. II. 202; s. c. 9 Am. Dec. 50. Another form is by the witness or party promising holding up his right hand while the officer repeats to him, "You do swear by Almighty God, the searcher of hearts, that," etc., and this as you shall answer to God at the great day." In another form of attestation, commonly called an affirmation (q. v.), the officer repeats, "You do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm that,' etc. A Jew is sworn on the Pentateuch, or Old Testament, with his head covered; Stra. 821, 1113; a Mohammedan, on the Koran; 1 Leach, 54; a Gentoo, by touching with his hand the foot of a Brahmin or priest of his religion; a Brahmin, by touching the hand of another such priest; Wils. 549; 1 Atk. 21; a Chinaman, by breaking a china saucer; 1 C. & M. 248. See 25 Alb. L. J. 301. The form and time of administering oaths, as well as the person authorized to adminis ter, are usually fixed by statute. See Gilp. 439; 1 Tyl. 347; 1 South. 297; 4 Wash. Ĉ. C. 555; 2 Blackf. 35; 2 McLean, 135; 9 Pet. 238; 1 Va. Cas. 181; 8 Rich. So. C. 456; 1 Swan, 157; 5 Mo. 21; 48 Cal. 197; 41 Conn. 206. The administering of unlawful oaths is an offence against the government, punishable in England by transportation; Whart. Lex. The subject of oaths has undergone much |