Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

MODUS ET CONVENTIO, ETC.

MODERATE CASTIGAVIT 783

MODIUS TERRAS VEL AGRI. In old English law. A quantity of ground con taining in length and breadth 100 feet. MO DO ET FORMA. In manner and form. "Words used in the old Latin forms of pleadings by way of traverse, and literally translated in the modern precedents, import ing that the party traversing denies the alle gation of the other party, not only in its gen eral effect, but in the exact manner and form in which it is made. Steph. Fl. 189,190. MODUS. Lat. In the civil law. Man ner; means; way. In old conveyancing. Mode; manner; the arrangement or expression of the terms of a contract or conveyance. Also a consideration; the consideration of a conveyance, technically expressed by the word "ut. n A qualification, involving the idea of va riance or departure from some general rule or form, either by way of restriction or en largement, according to the circumstances of a particular case, the will of a donor, the par ticular agreement of parties, and the like. Burrill. In criminal pleading. The modus of an indictment is that part of it which contains the narrative of the commission of the crime; the statement of the mode or manner in which the offense was committed. Tray. Lat. Max. In ecclesiastical law. A peculiar man ner of tithing, growing out of custom. MODUS DE NON DECIMANDO. In ecclesiastical law. A custom or prescrip tion of entire exemption from the payment of tithes; this is not valid, unless in the case of abbey-lands. Modus de non decimando non valet. A modus (prescription) not to pay tithes is void. Lofft, 427; Cro. Eliz. 511; 2 Share. Bl. Comm. 31. MODUS DECIMANDI. In ecclesias tical law. A manner of tithing; a partial ex emption from tithes, or a pecuniary composi tion prescribed by immemorial usage, and of reasonable amount; for it will be invalid as a rank modus if greater than the value of the tithes in the time of Richard I. Stim. Law Gloss. Modus et conventio vincunt legem. Custom and agreement overrule law. This maxim forms one of the first principles rel ative to the law- of contracts. The excep tions to the rule here laid down are in cases

for him who is amerced in a court, not of record, for any transgression beyond the qual ity or quantity of the offense. It is addressed to the lord of the court, or his bailiff, com manding him to take a moderate amerciament of the parties. New Nat. Brev. 167; Fitzh. Nat. Brev. 76. MODERATE CASTIGAVIT. Lat. In pleading. He moderately chastised. The name of a plea in trespass which justifies an alleged battery on the ground that it con sisted in a moderate chastisement of the plain tiff by the defendant, which, from their re lations, the latter had a legal right to inflict. MODERATE SPEED. In admiralty law. As applied to a steam-vessel, "such speed only is moderate as will permit the steamer reasonably and effectually to avoid a collision by slackening speed, or by stopping and reversing, within the distance at which an approaching vessel can be seen." 35 Fed. Rep. 609; 39 Fed. Rep. 480. MODERATOR. A chairman or presi dent of an assembly. A person appointed to preside at a popular meeting. The presiding officer of town-meetings in New England is so called. MODIATIO. In old English law. A certain duty paid for every tierce of wine. Modica circumstantia facti jus mutat. A small circumstance attending an act may change the law. MODIFICATION. A change; an altera tion which introduces new elements into the details, or cancels some of them, but leaves the general purpose and effect of the subject matter intact. "Modification" is not exactly synonymous with "amendment," for the former term denotes some minor change in the substance of the thing, with out reference to its improvement or deterioration thereby, while the latter word imports an ameli oration of the thing (as by changing the phrase ology of an instrument, so as to make it more dis tinct or specific) without involving the idea of any change in substance or essence. In Scotoh law. The term usually ap plied to the decree of the teind court, award ing a suitable stipend to the minister of a parish. Bell. MODIFY. To alter; to change in inci dental or subordinate features. MODIXTS. A measure, usually a bushel.

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