pol., whether material or not: and the fraud precludes all inquiry as to the materiality; but if there is no fraud, then the concealment must be of a material circumstance; and the test of materiality in concealment is in all respects the same as in misrepresentation. It is, however, of course essential that the assured should have known the fact concealed, or was bound to know it; but if he purposely neglects to learn material facts, it is a concealment. If there is a warranty of any especial matter, it supersedes the necessity of a disclosure as to the fact warranted.

Fire Ins.-In F. ins. prob. neither the temptation nor the opportunity of Concealment exist in the same degree as in the preceding branches of the bus. The difference in prem. between the varying classes of ins. is not usually great; and then there is always the opportunity for the surveyor or inspector of the office to examine the risk. Happily, the system of inspection prior to acceptance is becoming more and more general. It is the one great safeguard of the bus.

In the case of Bufe v. Turner, 1815, the plaintiff, residing in Heligoland, having one of several warehouses next but one to a boat-builder's shop, which took fire, he on the same evening, after the fire was apparently extinguished, sent instructions by an extraordinary conveyance, the mail having started, to have that warehouse insured in the Phonix Fire Office of Lond., but did not communicate to the insurers the fact of the neighbouring fire. It afterwards transpired that the fire, which took place on Saturday evening, was apparently extinguished by 8 o'clock on that evening; it was however necessary to watch the premises all night, and on the Monday morning following it broke out again, and communicating through the intervening building, consumed the warehouse insured. The Court of Common Pleas held that this concealment voided the pol., although such communication was not comprised within the express terms and conditions of the Co.

In the case of Pim v. Reid (Imperial F.), 1843, the pol. contained this condition: “In the ins. of goods, the building or place in which the same are deposited is to be described, the quantity and description of such goods, also whether any hazardous trade is carried on, or any hazardous articles deposited therein; and if any person shall insure his goods or buildings, and shall cause the same to be described, otherwise than they really are, to the prejudice of the Co., or shall misrepresent or omit to communicate any circumstance which is material to be made known to the Co., in order to enable them to judge of the risk they have undertaken, such ins. shall be of no force :"-Held, that this condition was to be referred to the time when the pol. was effected, and that, in the absence of fraud, neither by the general law of ins. nor by such condition was the pol. avoided by the circumstance that, subsequently to the effecting of the pol., a more hazardous trade had, without notice to the Co., been carried on upon the premises.

In the case of Glen v. Lewis (West of England F. and L.), 1853, the facts were as follow: An ins. against fire was effected on certain premises. The pol. contained the following conditions-1. Persons making ins. to give an accurate description of the buildings, and if there should be used therein any steam-engine, stove, etc., or any description of fire-heat, other than common fire-places, or any process of fire-heat to be carried on therein, the same to be noticed, and allowed in the pol., otherwise the pol. to be void. In case of any circumstance happening after an ins., whereby the risk should be increased, the assured to give notice in writing to the insurers, that the same, previous to a loss, might be allowed by indorsement on the pol., otherwise the pol. to be void. 2. In case of any alteration being made in a building insured, or of any steam-engine, stove, etc., or any other description of fire-heat being introduced, or of any trade, business, process, or operation being carried on, or goods deposited therein, not comprised in the orig. ins., or allowed by indorsement thereon, notice thereof must be given; and every such alteration must be allowed by indorsement on the pol., and any further prem. which the alteration may occasion must be paid; and unless such notice be given, such prem. paid, and such indorsement made, no benefit will arise to the assured in case of loss. The insured, who was a cabinet-maker, placed a small steam-engine on the premises, with a boiler attached, and used it in a heated state for the purpose of turning a lathe, not in the course of his bus., but for the purpose of ascertaining, by experiment, whether it was worth his while to buy it, to be used in that bus. After this engine had been on the premises for several days, a fire happened :-Held, that the insured could not recover on the pol., since the terms of the condition applied to the introduction of a steam-engine, in a heated state, at any time, without notice to the Co.; and that it made no difference whether it was used by way of experiment, or as an approved mode of carrying on the bus., or whether it was used for a longer or a shorter term.

In the case of Stokes v. Cox (Birmingham F. Office), 1856, where the circumstances were in many points analogous to the above, but where the conditions of the pol. did not specifically mention a steam-engine, it was held by the Exchequer Chamber that the introduction of a steam-engine did not vitiate the pol.

In the case of Baxendale v. Harding (Norwich Union Fire), 1859, where it was one of the conditions of the pol. that the "nature and material structure of the building should be truly described," and another that it should be stated whether any hazardous bus. was carried on :-Held, that an omission to mention a steam-engine bonâ fide used in the building, but only to grind corn for the horses used on the premises, was not a want of proper description avoiding the pol.

Mr. Bunyon says, in his Law of Fire Ins., 1867:

If a person effected an ins. upon a building as a private dwelling-house, but omitted to mention

that its windows overlooked a petroleum store, or floor-cloth manufactory, or some other equally dangerous structure, it cannot be doubted but that the pol. would be void by reason of the concealment of a material fact, and he would have no right to recover in case of loss, even if the cause of fire were wholly unconnected with the special uncommunicated risk, and were unaffected by it. This he states on the authority of Wedderburn v. Bell, 1807.

In the U.S., where the bus. of fire ins. is carried on with a much more strict regard to the conditions of the pol. than in Gt. Brit., there have been some highly instructive decisions in the matter of Concealment, several of which we propose to notice here.

In an action on a pol. by insured, the jury were held to have been correctly instructed, that if certain facts, as a threat to burn the building insured, were known to the plaintiff, and were not made known to the Co., and were material to the risk, they should find for the defendants, although the plaintiff did not suppose there was any particular reason for fear.-Curry v. Commonwealth Ins. Co., 1830.

The New York Fire Ins. Co., after issuing a pol. on a "stock of dry goods," learned that the insured was a man of bad reputation, and had already burned up one or two houses. They then reinsured the risk with the New York Bowery Ins. Co., withholding the information they had received :--Held, that the failure to make known the information to the reinsurer, whether from design or mistake, would avoid the pol. of reinsurance, if the information was material to the risk, or would have induced a higher rate of prem. if known.-New York Bowery Ins. Co. v. New York Fire Ins. Co., 1837.

If the insured is induced to insure by an attempt to set fire to an adjacent house, the destruction of which would necessarily have destroyed his own, and conceals the fact from the underwriters, he cannot recover.- Walden v. Louisiana Ins. Co., 1838.

An inadvertent omission of facts, if material to the risk, and such as the party insured should have known to be so, will render the pol. void.—Dennison v. Thomaston Mut. Ins. Co., 1841.

The tenant or lessee of premises, effecting ins. on stock of goods, is not bound to disclose or communicate to the insurers the names or pursuits of sub-tenants living on the premises. If insurers wish to guard against the risk from certain pursuits or occupations of tenants or sub-tenants, they have it in their power to insert in the pol. a warranty to that effect; which being a condition precedent, whether material or immaterial, must be complied with before any action can be maintained on the pol.-Lyon v. Commercial Ins. Co., 1842.

If premises were partly occupied by "Gamblers," and the underwriter made objection to the vicinity of another gaming estab., and the ins. did not make known the presence of "Gamblers" in the premises to be ins., it would void the pol., if jury should find that the risk was thereby increased.-Lyon v. Commercial Ins. Co., 1842.

If insurer takes risk, without inquiry, and relying on his own knowledge, there must, in order to avoid the pol., exist something unusual to enhance the risk. If ins. is on cotton factory, and lamps, causing the loss, are used in the picking room, it must be shown to avoid the pol. that the use of lamps in the picking room was unusual. — Clarke v. Manufacturing Ins. Co., 1850.

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Where the constitution and bye-laws of a mut. ins. asso. require nothing further from the insured than an application for ins., and where they provide for a survey by the asso., and under such pol. on personal property in a mill," the ins. did not make known the existence of a "corn kiln" attached to the mill, and from which the fire originated :— Held, that in the absence of any inquiry on the subject, the insured was not bound to disclose the existence of the "corn kiln."-Satterthwaite v. Mut. Beneficial Ins. Co., 1850.

At the time of application for ins. on "tavern, woodhouse," etc., insured had commenced preparations for erecting a new building near the ones to be ins., but did not notify insurers of such intention, no inquiries having been made on the subject :-Held, that the failure to communicate such intention to the insurers was not a concealment that avoided the pol.-Gates v. Maddison County Mut., 1851.

Where the omission to state certain facts in the application is relied on in defence to an action on the pol., the question presented, in the absence of warranty, would be upon the materiality of the fact concealed to the risk; and that is a question for the jury, and ought to be submitted to them.-Gates v. Maddison County Mut., 1848, 1851.

The fact of a pending litigation affecting the premises ins. not having been communicated to the insurer at the time of executing the pol. will not avoid the pol.-Hill v. Lafayette Ins. Co., 1853.

A suppression or misrepresentation of material facts, though from ignorance, mistake, or negligence, stands on the same ground in its effect on a pol. as if such suppression or misrepresentation were wilful. But the principle on which this rule is founded can have no application to the conduct of the insured subsequent to the making of the contract.— Miller v. Western Farmers Mut., 1854.

It is not sufficient to aver in a plea to an action upon a pol. that when the application for ins. was made, the insured concealed a fact material to the risk, and which would have increased it if known. It must also appear that the insured knew of the existence of the fact, and that the fact itself was not open and notorious at the time to all parties. It is not every fact within the knowledge of the insured that he is bound to disclose, and if

such facts as the law will require him to disclose are within the knowledge of the insurers, or so connected with the subject insured that his knowledge may be fairly inferred, the allegation of concealment is unsupported.—Merchants and Manufacturers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Washington Mut., 1855.

When several fires have occurred in and about the house before applying for ins., a failure to disclose such facts to agent is a concealment fatal to the pol.; but if enough is made known to put the co. or agent upon inquiry for more, and they fail to inquire, the ins, is not bound to force his knowledge upon them.-Beebe v. Hartford Mut., 1856.

Where it is provided in the application for ins., which is made a part of the pol., that any concealment of the condition or character of the property will make the pol. void, and the applicant represented the property free from incumbrance, when there was at the time a mortgage upon a part of it :-Held, that such representation was a breach of the contract, rendering the pol. void, and this whether the false representation were by mistake or design. -Gould v. York County Mut., 1859.

Where specific descriptions of the property are required by the terms of an ins. office, which terms are referred to and incorp. as part of the conditions of the pol. of ins. :Held, that the suppression of an immaterial fact does not invalidate the pol.— Whitehurst v. Fayetteville Mut., 1859.

The pol. stipulated that the representations in the application should be a warranty on the part of the insured, and contain a just, full, and true exposition of all the facts and circumstances in regard to the condition, situation, and value of the property insured. The application stated that there was a carpenter's shop near the building sought to be insured-Held, that the application was not required to state in what manner the shop was heated-unless at least there was something unusual, something not customary" in the mode of heating.-Girard Fire and Marine Ins. Co. v. Stephenson, 1860.

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A misrepresentation or concealment in regard to the title of the insured in the property will avoid a pol. issued by a mut. ins. co., whose charter, subject to which the pol. is issued, makes the prem. notes liens on the property insured.-Mut. Ins. Co. v. Deale, 1861. An ins. co. is chargeable with knowledge of all the facts stated by an applicant for ins. to the co.'s agent, respecting the applicant's title and int. in the insured premises. And if the applicant, on applying to such agent for ins., truly state to him the real condition of the property, he cannot be held to have made any mis-statement, or practised any concealment in reference to the co., notwithstanding the written application drawn up by the agent varies from such statement.—Hodgkins v. Montgomery County Mut., 1861.

[For these American cases we are indebted to the Digest of Fire Ins. Decisions, 2nd ed. N. Y., 1868.]

Accident Ins.-A co., by its form of proposal for ins. against accidents, required the 'name, residence, profession or occupation of the person whose life is proposed to be insured," to be stated. The proposer filled up the form thus, "J. T. P—, Esq., Saltly Hall, Warwickshire." He lived at Saltly Hall, but he also kept an ironmonger's shop at D., in the same county. The Co. thereupon insured his life against accidents, by a pol. under which the rate of prem. was the same as would have been payable had he described himself as an ironmonger. In the pol. was a proviso, "that if any statement or allegation contained in the proposal be untrue, or if this pol. has been obtained, or shall be hereafter continued through any misrepresentation, concealment, or untrue averment whatsoever, then this pol. shall be void :"-Held, that the pol. was not rendered void by the omission to state that he was an ironmonger.-Perrins v. Marine and Gen. Travellers Ins. So., heard in 1859. Approved on appeal to the Exchequer Chamber in 1860.

CONCESSION.-A privilege or a right granted by a Gov. to persons or asso. to do certain things advantageous to the public interest-as to construct a railway, found an ins. asso., etc., etc. The parties who obtain the concession are called concessionaires. No ins. asso. can commence bus. in the Prussian dominions without having obtained such a license or concession. The same, we believe, in Austria.

CONCORDIA INS. CO. OF AMSTERDAM,-This Co., which carried on bus. in Lond. for some time, passed into liq. in 1872.

CONCRETION (from concresco, to grow together).-A term generally applied to calculus, and to osseous deposits in certain organs, as in the liver and lungs. There are various minor distinctions,

CONCURRENT.-Acting in conjunction; agreeing in the same act; contributing to the same event; contemporaneous.

CONCURRENT JURISDICTION,-The jurisdiction of several different tribunals, each authorized to deal with the same subject-matter at the choice of the suitor.

It is well known to all lawyers, and should be known to man. of ins. asso., that the Courts of Equity have concurrent jurisdiction with the Courts of Law in reference to claims arising under ins. contracts. The common form in which this concurrent jurisdiction is invoked is where a claimant under an ins. pol. sues the co. at law, and the co. appeals to the Court of Equity to restrain the progress of the action on the ground of the contract having been obtained by misrepresentation or fraud. The principle upon which the Court of Equity is usually governed in such cases was well expressed by V. C. Malins

in the case of Hoare (Chairman of Sun L.) v. Bembridge (executor), which arose in July, 1872. The facts were very simple. A Mrs. Formby, of Exeter, was ins. as a first-class life in the Sun Office in Dec., 1870, for £5000; she died on 1st Feb., 1872. The Office, after the death, obtained information which led them to suspect that fraudulent statements had been made; or important facts had been fraudulently concealed. It therefore applied to the Court of Equity to decree that the pol. be delivered up for cancelment; and for an injunction to restrain the executor from prosecuting any action at law against the Co. under this pol. The V. C. delivered a judgment, of which the following is the substance: It could not be denied that in a case of this kind, involving the question of fraud, the Court of Chancery had concurrent jurisdiction with the Courts of Common Law, and that the consideration of the question whether or not this pol. was fraudulently obtained, was as much within the jurisdiction of the one Court as the other. But it must be borne in mind that the ordinary remedy was by action at law, and it was most important that it should be understood by insurers, whether underwriters or fire or life insurers, that the proper and convenient tribunal to decide such questions was a Court of Common Law, and that it was not competent for such persons to file a bill in Chancery and take the case out of the proper tribunal, where the witnesses could be seen and their demeanour observed. The grounds on which the society disputed the pol. in Chancery were equally available to them as a defence to the action at Common Law. A good deal would depend upon medical evidence, and his Honour could see no ground of equity or expediency in transferring a case of this nature from a Court of Common Law, where the evidence was oral, to be tried in the Court of Chancery upon written evidence. On the ground, therefore, not that the Court of Chancery had no jurisdiction, but that it would be most inconvenient to exercise that jurisdiction in cases of this nature, his Honour refused the motion.

CONCURRENT POLICIES (F. Ins.)-These are such as are concurrent as regards property covered, without reference to average or other conditions.-Hore. [AVERAGE POL., Fire.] CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN (from concutio, to shake together).-A term simply denoting a shaking or general disturbance of the minute parts of the brain; sudden interruption of the functions of the brain, caused by a blow, or other mechanical injury of the head. Deaths from this cause are classed as VIOLENT DEATHS. CONDEMNATION.-When a ship is condemned as incapable of pursuing her voyage, it ought to be ascertained whether this was the consequence of accidents, and the violence of the sea, or of her age and decay, even at the time of her departure; for in the latter case the insurers are not answerable.-Valin's Commentaries. Condemnation by a Prize Court is not necessary to make the underwriters liable in case of capture. [CAPTURE.] [PRIZE COURTS.]

CONDITION (Lat. conditio).—A restraint annexed to a thing, by the non-performance of which one party to a contract receives prejudice or loss; or the other receives an advantage not stipulated. A condition is said to be affirmative when it provides for doing an act; negative when it binds not to do an act; compulsory as to things which must be done, as payment of rent, prems., etc.

CONDITION PRECEDENT.-Something that must be done in order to estab. a claim for something else to be done: as "proof of loss" must be rendered before an action can be maintained under a F. pol.; or proof of injury, or cause of death, before a claim can be estab. under an accident pol.

CONDITIONS OF INSURANCE.-Each branch of Ins. is in practice governed by certain essential conditions, which, although variable to a considerable extent by the usages of different offices, are in the main adhered to. It will be more convenient to discuss these in connexion with each particular branch of the bus., than in a collected form here. See ACCIDENT INS., FIRE INS., LIFE INS., MARINE INS., etc. CONDORCET, MARQUIS DE.-A French Mathematician and Philosopher, born in Picardy in 1743, and died in 1794. In 1785 he pub. in Paris, Essais sur l'Application de Analyse a la Probabilité des Decisions rendues a la Pluralité de Voix. Galloway speaks of this as a work of great ingenuity, abounding with interesting remarks on subjects of the highest importance to humanity.

Condorcet left behind him at his death the plan of reducing to mathematical laws all the social questions which are acted upon by the free will of man, as well as those which are fixed and immutable in their nature. To this new application of science he gave the appropriate name of Mathématique Sociale. M. Quetelet has more recently followed up the same subject. [CHANCES, DOCTRINE OF.] [PROBABILITY, MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF.]

CONDUITS.-In early days Lond. was very proud of her conduits. According to Stow, when the various brooks which in early times ran through the City became impeded, or rendered impure, "then the citizens were forced to seek sweet waters abroad, whereof some at the request of Henry III., 1236, were, for the profit of the City and good of the whole realm thither repairing, to wit, for the poor to drink, and for the rich to dress their meat, granted to the citizens by one Gilbert Sanford, with liberty to convey water from the town of Tyburn by pipes of lead into the City." Anderson records-under date 1237"The City of London now obtained a grant from the Lord of the Manor of Tyburn (then a village) of certain springs in that manor (near Marybon), in order for the conveying of their water by leaden pipes (of six inches diameter) into the said City." Another grant was made in 1354. The "great conduit" from Tyburn was not opened until 1285. On the occasion of the marriage of Henry VIII. with Anna Boleyn, Ist June, 1533, this conduit ran with "red and white wine all the afternoon." These

conduits were the precursors of the present Lond. water cos., and no doubt were found very useful, having regard to the appliances against fire in these early times.

Dr. Samuel Rolle, who in 1667 preached 110 sermons "improving and commemorating the Fire of London," offered the following curious reflections concerning these "helpless conveniences":

Methinks these several conduits stood like so many little but strong forts, to confront the great enemy fire. There, methinks, the water was entrenched and engarrisoned. The several pipes charged with water, till, by the turning of the cock, they were discharged again, were as so many soldiers within these forts, ready with their musketry, to keep and defend our houses. And look how enemies deal with castles they think impregnable-they attempt to storm them by close siege; so went the fire to work with these little castles of stone-spoiled them or almost spoiled them; and hath for the present cut off those supplies of water which had vent to flow them, melting the leaden channels which conveyed them, and thereby starving the garrison it could not take by storm. [WATER COMPANIES.] CONDY, MR., has pub. in the U.S. The Law of Ins. in 2 vols. We have never seen this work, but hope to be able to speak of it hereafter.

CONFIDENCE FIRE AND LIFE, projected in 1854, as was also the Confidence Fire, Life, and Indemnity; but failing to inspire the element indicated in their titles, they fell through. CONFIDENT LIFE AND FIRE ASSU. AND LOAN CO., founded in 1856, with an authorized cap. of £20,000, of which but £4000 was in the first instance regis. Among the objects of the Co. were the following:

1. For enabling the industrial classes by the principle of L. assu., conducted by strict economy and equity, to provide sums of money to be paid at the death of each assurer to the widow, widower, or the legal representative of the assu. 2. Providing for children a sum sufficient to apprentice or otherwise promote their interest; either by weekly, monthly, or quarterly payments. 3. Providing sums in sickness for those who depend on their labour for support; payments and benefits varying according to the condition and age of the assured. 4. For securing a weekly maintenance in old age, so that in after years they may enjoy the fruits of a frugal and well-spent life. 5. For granting annu. providing against the casualties in trade, or circumstances attending this age of uncertainty, etc., etc. The prosp. said:

The directors of the Confident, being thoroughly conversant with the condition and circumstances of the middle and working classes, have introduced into this inst. some new features of assu., peculiarly adapted to the wants and requirements of those classes. In consequence of the failure of many sick benefit sos. through being based on false principles, and from a deep conviction of the necessity of enabling persons of the industrial classes to make some provision for their families in case of sickness, an elaborate T. has been prepared for that purpose from the most reliable data, called the Benefit Sick T., by reference to which it will be seen that a person 29 years of age can, by paying 6d. per week, entitle himself to receive 12s. 6d. during sickness, and £ro in case of death.

The Co. carried on bus. down to 1864, when its connexions were handed over to the General Provident. Mr. James Mathers was the Man.

CONFIRMATION EXPEDE.-A term in Scotch Law, used in relation to the granting of probates, or letters of administration.

CONFISCATION.-The condemnation and adjudication of goods or effects to the public Treasury, as of ships trading in contraband of war, etc. It is very general in time of war for owners seeking ins. of their ships to warrant them against Confiscation at their port of discharge. Many nice questions have arisen on this point, some of which we shall discuss under SEIZURE, and others under WARRANTIES. CONGESTION (from congero, to amass).-Where there is an unnatural accumulation of blood in the capillary vessels of any part of the sanguiferous system, the organ in which it takes place, and the functions of which are disturbed, is said to suffer under congestion; it induces a morbid condition of the vessels of the part affected, which when once estab. is difficult of removal. Congestion of the brain, liver, or lungs, is a frequent effect of fevers, though generally consequent upon a previous morbid condition of the organs.— Brande. CONGESTION OF LUNGS, DEATHS FROM (Class, LOCAL; Order, Diseases of Respiratory Organs). The deaths from this cause in England are numerous. In 1865 they were 2314 males, 1219; females, 1095. In 1866 they were 2480: males, 1354; females, 1126. In 1867 they were 2393 males, 1284; females, 1109. The ages at death of males in 1867 were: under 5, 630; between 5 and 25, 75; between 25 and 45, 128; between 45 and 75, 354; between 75 and end of life, 102. The ages of females: under 5, 480; between 5 and 25, 79; between 25 and 45, 106; between 45 and 75, 290; between 75 and end of life, 154.

CONGREVE, SIR WILLIAM, obtained, in 1812, a patent for an arrangement of waterpipes in buildings, through which, by turning a cock, a supply of water could be instantly secured, and the building deluged. [FIRE ANNIHILATORS.]

CONJECTURE.-Mr. Arthur Morgan in one of his early addresses to the Court of the Equitable So. said, in relation to the operations of Life Ins., "It can never be safe to substitute conjecture for inquiry." This is especially so in every department of the actuary's calling. It was conjecture which for a long period led to the belief that Liverpool was one of the most healthy towns in the U.K. It has led to many other equally serious mistakes in matters of vital statistics.

CONJUGAL OFFICE, Hanging Sword Court, Fleet Street, founded in 1711, for ins. on Births, Marriages, Servants, and Single Lives.

CONNECTICUT, INS. LAWS OF THE STATE OF.-In this State there are very ample laws