here our conviction that, whatever theory may seem to say to the contrary, in the practice of granting L. annu., the greatest possible care must be exercised at all times to prevent the judgment from being swayed into granting annu. on easier terms, because of any representation that the life is not up to the full standard of health. There have been many remarkable cases of clever deception in this respect. The ailments vanish with a marvellous facility soon after the annu. pol. is obtained.

In the next place it seems desirable in all dealings in L. annu. to regard the difference in value between male and female lives. Prof. De Morgan pointed this out as far back as 1838. He said:

The distinction of male and female life becomes of importance in the granting of annu. The ins. offices have not as yet, except, I believe, in one or two instances, begun to recognize the distinction, which is of the less consequence, since with respect to the office it is keeping on the safe side: and with respect to the public, very few female lives are ins. But the exact reverse takes place with respect to annu. It would be insecure to grant them on the same terms as to males: and a very large proportion of the whole number of annu. is of the female sex.

It was this same writer, we believe, who first pointed out the essential differences between a life ins. office and an annu. association. The management of an annu. asso. (he said) is somewhat more easy than that of an ins. estab.; and the maxims of security of the former are of course the direct reverse of those of the latter, as far as any con siderations of mort. are concerned. Tables must be assumed of higher than the real vitality, and a rate of int. somewhat below, at least not above, that which can actually be obtained. We must now glance very briefly at a few of the legal conditions surrounding annu. An annu. can be granted only by deed. A mere agreement to pay an annu., whether by word of mouth, or in writing not under seal, gives no right to bring an action for the arrears (Nield v. Smith, and In re Locke). Salaries, pensions, and the like, though ann. payable, are not annu. in the legal sense, unless granted in the regular way.-Kennedy.

An annu., properly so called, is merely personal property, and not at all connected with realty, although it is frequently ranged under incorporeal hereditaments, issuing out of land, and even the Legislature treats it sometimes as a rent-charge; from which, however, it materially differs (see 3 & 4 Wm. IV., c. 27, s. 21). [RENT-CHARGE].

An annu. for life or years is not redeemable in the same manner as a PERPETUAL ANNU. But it may be agreed by the parties to the contract that it shall be redeemable on certain terms; or it may afterwards be redeemed by consent of both parties. Equity will decree a redemption on the ground of fraud or gross inadequacy. [REDEEMABLE ANNU.]

The annuitant possesses a mere right to receive certain periodical payments (annual, half-yearly, quarterly, or otherwise, as the case may be). Such a right is in the nature of what the law calls a chose in action, that is, a thing which can only be reduced into possession by means of an action. A chose in action is, by the general rule of Common Law, not assignable; but to this rule annu. in fee always formed an exception (Viner's Abridgment, 11,515), on the ground that no property is by the law of England allowed to continue perpetually inalienable. Other annu., however, are not assignable at Common Law, although the assignment of them, like that of any other chose in action, will be protected by Courts of Equity. Therefore, upon any such assignment having been made, if action is to be brought in a Court of Common Law, the person to whom the annu. is assigned must use the name of the orig. annuitant; but, if it be necessary for him to apply to the Court of Chancery, his title under the assignment is there recognized, so that he may sue in his own name-Kennedy. The assignment must be by deed.

An annu. may be bequeathed. It may be either created by, or, if already existing, may be transmitted by Will. A created annu. is a general legacy, and will abate with the other legacies on a deficiency of assets.

The most expeditious remedy to recover the arrears of a personal annu. is an action of debt upon the deed. An action of covenant will lie; and if judgment by default be recovered, a reference to the Master to compute the arrears is obtained. Where there is a bond, an action for its penalty may be brought, and a scire facias issued upon the judgment as the arrears become due from time to time.

As to the Bankruptcy of the grantor of an annu., see 24 & 25 Vict., c. 134 (1861), secs. 175 and 176. As to his Insolvency, see 1 & 2 Vict., c. 110, sec. 80; and 32 & 33 Vict., c. 83, sec. 20 (1855).

Upon the purchase of an annu. from an ins. co., the payment of the purchase-money after the approval of the proposal by the board would be conclusive in support of the contract, notwithstanding the death of the annuitant an hour after, and before any annuity policy had been executed; in accordance with the general rule that in Equity what is agreed to be done is considered as actually done. The death can form no objection to the specific performance of the contract. The purchaser agrees to buy an interest of uncertain duration, and he cannot complain that the contingency is unfavourable to him. -Sir Edward Sugden.

ANNUITIES ON LIVES, VALUE OF. Various inexperienced writers on annu. have fallen into the error of supposing that the value of a L. annu. is the same with the value of an annu. certain, for as many years as is equal to the expectation of any given life. Mr.

Weyman Lee, who wrote in 1737 and again in 1751, was the main disciple of this school; but the error is fallen into even at the present day.

Dr. Price, in a note to his Essay read before the Royal Society in 1769, said hereon: Were this true, an annu. on a life supposed to be exposed to such danger in a particular year as to create an equal chance, whether it will not fail that year, would, at the beginning of the year, be worth nothing, tho' supposed to be sure of continuing for ever if it escaped that danger: nor in general would the values of annu, on a set of lives be at all affected by any alterations in the rate of mort. among them, provided these alterations were such as did not affect the period during which they had an equal chance of existing.

The Baron Maseres, in 1783, speaking of the method propounded by Mr. Weyman Lee, says:

It is exceedingly erroneous, and gives the values of life annu. throughout the greatest part of human life, much greater than they should be. In the younger ages of life, the difference of the erroneous value from the true one amounts to about 3 years' purchase, yet the principle upon which Mr. Lee grounds this method has something in it plausible at first sight, and is apt to mislead the understanding with an appearance of truth and simplicity, unless it be examined with a great degree of attention.

The reason why the proposition is not true was explained in a clear and popular manner some few years since by Mr. F. A. C. Hare, of Manchester. ANNUITY.—An annuity (as distinguished from a L. annu.) is a payment made ann. for a term of years; and the chief problem relating to it is to determine its present worth, that is, the sum a person ought to pay immediately to another upon condition of receiving from the latter a certain sum ann. for a given time. In resolving this problem, it is supposed that the buyer improves his annu. from the time he receives it, and the seller the purchase-money, in a certain manner during the continuance of the annu., so that at the end of the time the amount of each may be the same. There may be various suppositions as to the way in which the annu. and its purchase-money may be improved; but the only one commonly applied to practice is the highest improvement possible of both, viz., by Compound Int. As the taking of compound int. is, however, prohibited by law, the realizing of this supposed improvement requires punctual payment of int., and therefore the int. in such calculations is generally made low.

The words Annu. and Rent-charge are frequently used as convertible terms: but in reality they are not so.

ANNUITY ACT.-In 1777 the 17 Geo. III. c. 26, commonly called "The Annuity Act," was passed. Its intention was to suppress gambling and dishonest dealings in L. annu., and it appears to have been eventually successful. The subject is referred to in our Hist. of Annu. under this date, and the details of the Act are also given there. ANNUITY APPORTIONMENT ACTS.-In 1738, by the 11 Geo. II. c. 19, annuities arising out of rents and profits from real estate were to be so apportioned that the representatives of the annuitant received the due proportion from the last preceding payment up to the death of such annuitant; but the Act did not extend to annuities arising from other sources; and under the general law, rents, annuities, etc., were not apportionable.

In 1834, by 4 & 5 Wm. IV. c. 22, it was enacted that all rents, annuities, and other payments coming due at fixed periods be apportioned, subject to all just deductions; and remedies were provided at Law and in Equity for recovering the same. The Act will not apply where a stipulation has been made that there shall be no apportionment; nor does it apply to life premiums falling due annually or otherwise.

Sec. 2. All annu. made payable or coming due at fixed periods under any instrument executed after 16th June, 1834, shall be apportioned so that the annuitant's executors or assigns shall be entitled to a proportion of such annu. according to the time which shall have elapsed from the last payment, including the day of the death.

Sec. 3. The Act is not to apply to ann. sums payable in pol. of assu. of any description.

In 1870, by 33 & 34 Vict. c. 35, it was enacted:

Sec. 2. Annuities are to be accruing from day to day, and to be apportionable accordingly.

Sec. 6. Nothing in the Act contained shall render apportionable any annu. sums made payable in pol. of assu. of any description.

ANNUITY BOND.-The deed or legal instrument by which an annuity is sometimes secured to an annuitant. [ANNUITY POLICY.]

under this title was prov. Mr. Joseph Bentley, well

ANNUITY BUILDING AND GENERAL ASSU. Co.-A project regis. in April, 1855. It never proceeded beyond this stage. known in the ins. world, was the promoter. ANNUITY CERTAIN.-An annuity certain is one for a given term of years, not dependent upon any life or event. A perpetual annu. is sometimes called an annu. certain. ANNUITY CO. FOR PURCHASING OF GOVERNMENT SECURITIES, ETC., founded 1720. See BAKER'S ANNUITIES.

ANNUITY POLICIES, STAMP DUTY UPON.-IOS. for each £100 of the purchase-money. For sums below 100 the following is the scale: Not exceeding £5, 6d. ; exceeding £5 and not exceeding 10, Is. ; £10 and not exceeding £15, 1s. 6d. ; £15 and not exceeding £20, 2s.; £20 and not exceeding £25, 2s. 6d.; £25 and not exceeding £50, 5s.; £50 and not exceeding £75, 7s. 6d. ; £75 and not exceeding £100, 10s.

The Act fixing the above is the last general StampAct, 33 & 34 Vict. c. 97 (1870). The following sec. governs the scale :

75. Where upon the sale of any annu. or other right not before in existence, such annu, or other VOL. I.

12

right is not created by actual grant or conveyance, but is only secured by bond, warrant of attorney, covenant, contract, or otherwise, the bond or other instrument, or some one of such instruments, if there be more than one, is to be charged with the same duty as an actual grant or conveyance, and is for all the purposes of this Act to be deemed an instrument of conveyance on sale.

The 3rd portion of sec. 72 bears upon life annu. not granted under pol. :

Where the consideration, or any part of the consideration, for a conveyance on sale consists of money payable periodically during any life or lives, such conveyance is to be charged in respect of such consideration ad valorem duty on the amount which will or may, according to the terms of sale, be payable during the period of 12 years after the day of the date of such instrument.

ANNUITY POLICY.-Annu. like other pol. are various in form, as they are designed to cover various contingencies. An ordinary policy for an annu. during the life of one person granted by an ins. office is generally after the following form:

Whereas

. . of

etc., is desirous, and hath proposed to effect an assu. with the

Ins. Co. for an annu. of £ to be payable to him, or his assigns, during his life, and hath caused to be delivered into the office of the said Co. a declaration or statement in writing, bearing date the day of 187, signed by him, whereby it is declared amongst other things that his age did not at his last birthday exceed years; which declaration or statement he hath agreed shall be the basis of the contract between himself and the said Co. And whereas the said

hath paid to the Directors of the said Co. the sum of £.. as the prem. or consideration for the proposed assu, of the said annu. Now this indenture witnesseth, that the cap. stock, funds and property of the said Co., shall be subject and liable, according and subject to the provisions of the D. of Sett. of the said Co., to pay to the said or his assigns, from the day of henceforward during his life, an annu. or clear yearly sum of £ to be payable at the times and in the manner mentioned at the back of this pol. Provided nevertheless that in case any untrue or fraudulent allegation is contained in the declaration or statement, so as aforesaid delivered into the office of the said Co., or if any fact which ought to be stated therein has been omitted therefrom, then this pol. of assu. shall be void. Provided also that in case of this pol., or the moneys hereby assu. to be paid, becoming the subject of any trust whatsoever, the receipt of the trustee for the time being of the said pol. or moneys may be accepted as an effectual discharge to the said Co. for any moneys payable by the Co. under such pol., without the Co. being bound to see to the application of such moneys, or answerable or accountable for the misapplication or non-application thereof. In witness whereof, the Common Seal of the said Co., etc.

In the case of asso. not formed under the Lim. Liability Law, or the F. Sos. Acts, the usual "Limitation Clause" adopted in its other contracts would be inserted in its proper place in the pol. This is a matter of great importance.

It has always appeared to us desirable to embody a covenant that reasonable proof shall be afforded at any and all times of the continued existence of the annuitant. Also that proof of "identity" may be called for when deemed necessary by the Co. ANNUITY SOCIETY OF ROMSEY, HANTS.-This So. was estab. in or before 1770. In that year its principal articles were printed: and from these it is clear that the So. was founded upon the model of some of those existing in Lond. at that date. The So. was estab. at the Dolphin Inn, in Romsey; and its constitution very much resembles that of the local friendly sos. of a later date. We have spoken of this So. more at large in our hist. of ANNUITIES ON LIVES.

ANNUITY TABLES.—Annu. T. are the foundation on which all the subsequent monetary T. for life ins. calculations are built. Their peculiarities must therefore affect the whole structure. This was forcibly pointed out by Neison in his Contributions, etc., 1857. It is in view of this fact that we have endeavoured to furnish means of comparison of the results of the various annu. T. already pub., in our hist. of life annu. And further, in this view we shall be careful to give, in our hist. of each individual mort. T. from which annu. values have been deduced, an exact account of the materials upon which the same was based. By such means alone can the student obtain a complete mastery of the subject. Our art. on MORT. T. will contain much add. information. All we can do in the present art. is to indicate the nature of the lessons to be drawn from the facts hereafter to be supplied.

Speaking of the Tables of Halley, Simpson, Dodson, Dupré, St. Cyran, the Northampton Table, and Duvillard's-all without distinction of sex-Mr. Milne points out that these were all deduced from B. of mort. alone, and in places where the pop. was variable, and the numbers of the people at the different ages were not ascertained. Therefore, notwithstanding the attempts to supply their defects which were made by the eminent mathematicians who constructed them, none of them represented truly the laws of mort, in the places where the respective obs. were made. Consequently the values of annu. derived from them cannot be correct; but will in general be considerably less than the truth, even for the general average of the whole pop. of the places in which the obs. were made.

Mr. Milne offers the following additional and important obs. on the same tables : But those values of annu. are also objectionable on this ground-that the places they were intended for, and understood to be adapted to, were generally populous towns, containing a large proportion of poor persons dependent upon their daily labour for their supply of food from day to day, often with little forethought, and many of them engaged in unwholesome employments, amongst whom great distress is often endured by the comparatively high prices of bread and potatoes, or the low rate of wages when the scanty food they are reduced to produces typhus fever, and sometimes the dysentery among them, which carry them off in great numbers. And these visitations were much more common at the times when the obs. were made from which most of these tables were constructed than they have been of late years.

None of those causes of mort. operate sensibly upon the general average of those persons upon whose lives leases, or annu., and rev. or assu. depend: they being generally in the higher and middle classes. Neither do they produce much effect among the more deserving persons in the lower classes,

such as the members of friendly sos., and others who are both industrious and frugal enough to live within their incomes; nor indeed upon any who are in comfortable circumstances.

Hence it follows that the values of life annu., and consequently those of any pecuniary interests dependent upon the continuance or the failure of human life, cannot be correctly determined from obs, made on a whole pop. similar to those of the places these tables were constructed from. But this was not distinctly seen till of late years, and appears to be very imperfectly understood at present (1830), even by some who might be expected to possess correct information on the subject. The tables constructed by Dr. Price, both from the Swedish obs., and those made by Dr. Haygarth at Chester, throw valuable light on this subject.

It is to be remarked that while the English compilers of annu. T. have nearly always arranged them in the form of showing the number of years' purchase that the annuities are worth a method having many advantages, since it facilitates the solution of various problems that arise in practice-the French writers almost invariably give the reciprocals of those values: that is, they form their tables so as to show the annu. which I will purchase. This is not so convenient for general use, nor so easy to be dealt with by persons not familiar with the working of decimals. We are glad to observe that many of the English ins. offices are now pub. the tables in both forms.

ANSALDIS DE ANSALDUS, pub. in Geneva, in 1698, De Commercio et mercatura descursus legales. To an ed. of this work in 1751 Straccha added two tracts. The work will be quoted in these pages. ANSELL, CHARLES, F. R.S., Consulting Act.-Mr. Ansell may be regarded as the father of the actuarial profession at the present moment. He was born in 1794, and entered the Atlas office as a junior in 1808, being then fourteen years of age. In 1810 he was regularly appointed on the staff. On the 19th June, 1823, he was appointed Act. of the Co., which position he held down to 12th April, 1864, a period of 41 years, when he retired from the active duties of the appointment; but still remains Consulting Act. Mr. Ansell also is or has been Consulting Actuary to the following offices: National Provident, Friends' Provident, Clergy Mutual; and during its short career of the Halifax, Bradford, and Keightley; and also of the Customs Fund. He has from time to time been called in by the Gov., or by different members of various Govs., to advise on proposals affecting the National finance-notably on the Gov. Superannuation Scheme, which in the end fell through. In 1864, when Mr. Gladstone was introducing the Gov. Life Ins. measure, he spoke of Mr. Ansell in terms of considerable commendation.

Mr. Ansell has been called before various Select Committees and Royal Commissions to give evidence. We may specify a few of these, viz., the Select Committee, which sat in 1841-3, to consider the law of Joint-Stock Cos.; before the Lords' Committee on Provident Asso. in 1848, and before the Select Committee on Friendly Sos. in 1849, and various other Committees on Friendly Sos.; also before the Select Committee on Assu. Asso., 1853.

It is, however, in the matter of F. sos. that Mr. Ansell has rendered the most important services in his day and generation.

În 1835 he pub. A Treatise on Friendly Societies, in which the Doctrine of the Int. of Money, and the Doctrine of Prob. are practically applied to the affairs of such Sos. With numerous Tables, and an Appendix containing the Acts of Parl. relating to F. Sos.

This work was really issued under the direction of the So. for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and attracted very considerable attention. It was one of the first efforts which had been made to impart an accurate knowledge of the scientific principles necessary to the proper conduct of these sos. to the persons mainly instrumental in their manage

ment.

A large professional practice in relation to the affairs of F. sos. at once resulted from the pub. of this work. We shall have occasion to speak of the work itself more at large under F. sos. We believe it was in relation to the affairs of one of these sos. that the following characteristic incident occurred. Mr. Ansell had been instructed by a late Bishop of London (Dr. Blomfield) to make certain calculations; and when they were completed he named as his fee 100 guineas. "A hundred guineas, Mr. Ansell!" the Bishop exclaimed, in surprise. Mr. Ansell replied that it was the usual fee in such cases. "Why," exclaimed the Bishop, "there are many curates in my diocese who don't get more than that for a year's services!" "That may be," quietly remarked Mr. Ansell, "but Actuaries are Bishops." 'And," rejoined his Reverence, "know how to make a

charge!" The fee was paid.

Mr. Ansell was one of the first to discover that the extended benefits conferred by the F. Sos. Acts some twenty years since, as to nomineeship, life pol., etc., etc., might be extended with great advantage to L. ins. asso. Accordingly several of the offices of which he was Consulting Act. regis. under the F. Sos. Acts, and so secured the full benefit of these advantages. About this, however, there arose a great outcry; and the Acts were ultimately modified so as practically to exclude such ins. asso. [FRIENDLY Sos.]

Mr. Ansell has within the last few weeks completed the Bonus Investigation of the National Provident a heavy task, conducted on the laborious method of English actuaries, and a notable feat, at an age approaching 80. He still remains active alike in body and mind. Mr. Ansell is or recently was High Sheriff of one of the Welsh counties. ANSELL, CHARLES, JUN., son of the above, Act. of the National since 1852.

Was

trained in the Pelican, which office he entered in 1843: passing from there to his present position. Is Consulting Act. of Marine Casualty.

ANSTON, EDWARD, was Sec. of London Assu. Corp. from 1777 to 1787.

ANTEDATE. To date a document before the day of its execution. This is sometimes done with life proposals to bring them before a recent birthday. It should never be done without the full consent of the office.

ANTE-NUPTIAL.-Before marriage, as an ante-nuptial settlement.

ANTHONY, WILLIAM, blacksmith, aged 21, was apprehended in Oct. 1871, charged with wilfully and maliciously setting fire to the St. George Sufferance Wharf, Wapping; and was supposed to have set fire to 150 other buildings, houses, factories, and premises in the metropolis within the two preceding years. It was charged that this extensive incendiarism had been merely occasioned for the purpose of obtaining the fee, ranging from Is. to 55., paid to persons giving the first information of a fire to the fire-engine and fire-escape stations. The prisoner had received more than 150 payments for giving the first information as to as many fires. There were various witnesses, who swore positively as to his identity. He was tried at the Central Criminal Court in Dec. 1871, and sentenced to 12 years' penal servitude. It is to be hoped that on his release he will take to a more honest vocation. It was stated at the trial that since his apprehension, the fires in Lond. from "unknown causes " had decreased about four-fifths. ANTICIPATION.-Doing or taking a thing before the appointed time; as sums lodged in anticipation of calls; or sums deposited with an office in anticipation of future prems. ANTILOGARITHM.-In its most common acceptation denotes the number to a logarithm. Thus, in the common system of logarithms, 100 is the antilogarithm of 2, because 2 is the logarithm of 100. Sometimes the term is used to denote the complement of the logarithm, or the difference of the logarithm from the next higher term in the series 1, 10, 100, etc.— Brande. ANTWERP.-We have occasion in several parts of this work to make reference to Antwerp as the great centre of maritime affairs some three centuries since. In the Memoirs of Dutch Commerce, a work attributed to the Bishop of Avranches, the meridian glory of this city is stated as having been about 1550, and is thus accounted for: The persecutions raised in Germany on account of religion in the reign of the Emperor Charles V.,-in France, under King Henry II.,-and in England, under Queen Mary, forced much people to settle in Antwerp, where a vast concourse of all European nations was to be seen: it being then the most celebrated magazine of commerce in all Europe, if not of the whole world; it having been at this time a common thing to see 2500 ships in the Scheldt, laden with all sorts of merchandize.-Anderson.

M. ins. was in practice here at a very early period. Malynes, and other writers, say that it had been learned from England. Their authority on this point does not seem very clear. Yet it is quite possible that some of the Lombards and others who had practised ins. here at an early period had afterwards settled in Antwerp. The earliest M. Ins. Ordin. promulgated in Antwerp is under date 1537. We have it upon authority that in 1620 M. pol. issued in Antwerp were expressed to be made "according to the custom of the Lombards in Lombard-st., Lond." But we suspect these words may only have been introduced into pol. issued to merchants and others residing in England.

The rate of int. for money in Antwerp in the 16th century was 12 p.c. p.a. We are told that, towards the end of this century, both Lond. and Amsterdam began to exceed this city in the greatness of their commerce. This was prob. after the sacking of Antwerp by the Spaniards in 1585. The most recent returns we have regarding M. ins. in this city in modern times are for the year 1847-8. Ten M. ins. offices ins. during the year £2,800,735, receiving in prems. therefor £61,392; paying for commission, £2524; for losses, 28,932; and for expenses of management, £5005. From these figures it appears that the average prems. for the year were nearly 2.19 p.c. on the sum ins.; that the losses were rather more than 103 p.c. on the sum ins, or 47.13 p.c. on the prems. received ; that the profits were 24'575 p.c. on the prems.; and the average expenses of management about £500 for each co., or 8'15 p.c. on the prems. Two of the cos. combined F. ins. with M. bus. There is still in force in this city a code for the regulation of M. ins. bus.

There prevails in Antwerp an excellent regulation in regard to fires. If there be any suspicion of incendiarism, or any irregularity, the circumstances are reported to the officers of justice, and they investigate the matter. If the report be unfavourable to the parties concerned, they may be imprisoned and tried.

There have been several very serious fires here. In 1858 the Exchange was burnt, and the archives of the city destroyed. In 1861 the Great Napoleon Wharf was destroyed, involving destruction of property about £400,000, and 25 lives. Later, we believe, there was a petroleum fire, which greatly damaged the shipping.

ANTWERP, INS. ORDIN. OF. The first document we have to notice under this head is an Ordin. under date 1537, addressed to the Bailiff of Antwerp. A portion thereof only applies to ins., to the following effect: Everybody who has given letters of assurance or surety, whether for a ship or for merchandizes at sea or by land, must satisfy his obligations, and pay the sums stipulated within two months after the loss occurs. It also provided for the payment to the insured, on his giving security of the sum ins., subject to