KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

WORTHIEST OP BLOOD

1232

WRIT

"WORTHIEST OF BLOOD. In the Eng lish law of descent. A term applied to males, expressive of the preference given to them over females. See 2 Bl. Comm. 234 240. A certain quantity of land so called in the manor of Kingsland, in Hereford. The tenants are called "worthies." Wharton. In criminal cases, the defini tion of a "wound" is an injury to the person by which the skin is broken. State v. Leon ard, 22 Mo. 451; Moriarty v. Brooks, 6 Car. & P. 684. "In legal medicine, the term 'wound' is used in a much more comprehensive sense than in surgery. In the latter, it means strictly a solution of continuity; in the for mer, injuries of every description that af fect either the hard or the soft parts; and accordingly under it are comprehended bruises, contusions, fractures, luxations," etc. 2 Beck, Med. Jur. 106. An aggravated species of assault and battery, consisting in one per son giving another some dangerous hurt 3 Bl. Comm. 121. Wreceum maris significat ilia bona quse naufragio ad terrain pellnntnr. A wreck of the sea signifies those goods which are driven to shore from a shipwreck. Such goods as after a shipwreck are cast upon the land by the sea, and, as lying within the ter ritory of some county, do not belong to the jurisdiction of the admiralty, but to the com mon law. 2 Inst. 167; 1 Bl. Comm. 290. Goods cast ashore from a wrecked vessel, where no living creature has escaped from the wreck alive; and which are forfeited to the crown, or to persons having the fran chise of wreck. Cowell. In American law. Goods cast ashore f by the sea, and not claimed by the owner within a year, or other specified period; and which, in such case, become the property of the state. 2 Kent, Comm. 322. In maritime law. A ship becomes a wreck when, in consequence of injuries re ceived, she is rendered absolutely unnaviga ble, or unable to pursue her voyage, without repairs exceeding the half of her value. Wood v. Insurance Co., 6 Mass. 479, 4 Am. Dec. 163; Collard v. Eddy, 17 Mo. 355; Baker v. Hoag, 7 N. Y. 558, 59 Am. Dec. 431; Peele v. Insurance Co., 19 Fed. Cas. 104; Lacaze v. State, 1 Add. (Pa.) 99. —Wreck commissioners are persons ap pointed by the English lord chancellor under the merchant shipping act, 1876, (section 29,) to hold investigations at the request of the board of trade into losses, abandonments, damages^ "WORTHING OF LAND. WOUND. "WOUNDING. "W R E C K. At common law.

and casualties of or to ships on or near the coast of the United Kingdom, whereby loss of life is caused. Sweet. Exempt from the for feiture of shipwrecked goods and vessels to the king. Cowell. A precept in writing, couched in the form of a letter, running in the name of the king, president, or state, issuing from a court of justice, and sealed with its seal, addressed to a sheriff or other officer of the law, or directly to the person whose action the court desires to command, either as the commencement of a suit or other proceeding or as incidental to its progress, and requiring the performance of a specified act, or giving authority and commission to have it done. For the names and description of various particular writs, see the following titles. In old English law. An instrument in the form of a letter; a letter or letters of attorney. This is a very ancient sense of the word. In the old books, "writ" Is used as equiv alent to "action;" hence writs are some times divided into real, personal, and mixed. In Scotch law. A writing; an instru ment in writing, as a deed, bond, contract, etc. 2 Forb. Inst, pt 2, pp. 175-179. —Alias writ. A second writ issued in the same cause, where a former writ of the Same kind has been issued without effect.— Close •writ. In English law, a name given to certain^ letters of the sovereign, sealed with his great seal and directed to particular persons and for particular purposes, which, not being proper for public inspection, were closed up and sealed on the outside; also, a writ directed to the sheriff instead of to the lord. 2 Bl. Comm. 346, 3 Reeve, Ehg. Law, 45.— Concurrent writs. Duplicate originals, or several writs running at the same time for the same purpose, for serv ice on or arrest of a person, when it is not known where he is to be found; or for service on several persons, as when there are several defendants to an action. Mozley & Whitley. —Judicial •writs. In English practice. Such writs as issue under the private seal of the courts, and not under the great seal of Eng land, and are tested or witnessed, not in the king's name, but in the name of the chief judge of the court out of which they issue. The word "judicial" is used in contradistinction to "orig inal;" original writs being such as issue out of chancery under the great seal, and are witness ed in the king's name. See 3 Bl. Comm. 282. Pullman's Palace-Car Co. v. Washburn (C. C.) 66 Fed. 792.— Junior writ. One which is is sued, or comes to the officer's hands, at a later time than a similar writ, at the suit of anoth er party, or on a different claim, against the same defendant.— Original writ. In English practice. An original writ was the process for merly in use for the commencement of per sonal actions. It was a mandatory letter from the king, issuing out of chancery, sealed with the great seal, and directed to the sheriff of the county wherein the injury was committed, or was supposed to have been committed, requir ing him to command the wrong-doer or accus ed party either to do justice to the plaintiff or else to appear in court and answer the accusa tion against him. This writ is now disused, the writ of summons being the process prescribed by the uniformity of process act for commencing WRECKFREE. WRIT.