NOTE. In all cases where Ins. against Dilapidations are effected with this Co. on more than one life, the same principle of calculation will be adopted, but each particular case will be the subject of a special agreement. This department was under the management of Mr. Henry T. Ryde.

Among the officers of this Co. were several persons who have since risen to very considerable distinction. Thus among its consulting physicians were Dr. Birkbeck and Dr. Southwood Smith; whilst one of its Surveyors was Mr. Charles Matthews, afterwards the well-known actor, still living. In the L. department there were no special features. The Co. only continued in existence about two years.

ÆGIS LIFE ASSU. Co., founded in 1848, with an authorized cap. of £160,000, in shares of £20 (power to increase to £500,000). About half the first portion of the cap. was subs. Among the Hon. Directors were "The Chairman and Deputy Chairman for the time being of the Union F. and L. Assu. Office," and in the prosp. there was the following: The objects of the Co. extend also to the transaction of all bus. connected with, or in any way dependent on the contingencies of human life; and the Co. affords to persons assu, the combined advantages of rates of prem. so low as are consistent with perfect safety to the ins., and the most ample security, by its cap. and by its connexion and arrangements with the Union Fire and Life Office.

The nature of this arrangement appears in some sort explained by the following note: Though the transactions of this office are limited to Life Assu., yet in consequence of the arrangements which have been made with the Union F. and L. Assu. So. the Directors of this Co. are desirous to obtain Fire Ins. to be effected with the Union through the agency of this Co.

The Co. had Tables of BUILDING SO. INS. It made loans to "enable persons to enfranchise Copyhold Land, and thus render it available for building purposes without being subject to the increased fine imposed on improvements." It also accepted lives "temporarily afflicted," and granted loans.

It continued bus. until 1854, and then trans. its policies to the Mitre.

AESCULAPEAN MEDICAL ATTENDANCE AND GENERAL LIFE INS. Co., projected in 1852, by George Latham Browne, Barrister-at-Law, for securing constant medical attendance to the insured, and for general Life bus. It did not advance beyond prov. regis. AFFIDAVIT (I confirm by oath) in law is an oath in writing sworn before some person who has authority to administer it.

AFFIDAVIT OF FIRE LOSS.-In the early practice of Fire Ins. all claimants for loss from Fire were called upon to make proof of their claim by affidavit on oath, or their affirmation, as the office might elect, and according to the form used by the particular office wherein the claim was made. This again had to be supported and confirmed by a certificate of the minister, churchwardens, and others residing in the parish where the loss occurred. [CERTIFICATE OF FIRE LOSS.]

The Sun was one of the offices requiring such affidavit or declaration of loss. AFFIRMATION (Lat. affirmatio).—In English law a solemn declaration made in cases authorized by law, by persons statutably relieved from the necessity of taking oaths. This relief, orig. granted to Quakers and members of some other persuasions, was extended by the Common Law Procedure Act (1854) to all persons having conscientious objections. A false declaration or affirmation is punishable as perjury. AFFREIGHT (To).-To hire a vessel. [FREIGHT, INS. OF.] AFFREIGHTER.-One who affreights or hires a vessel. AFFREIGHTMENT.-The freight or lading of a ship.-Cowel.

AFRICA. Ships and merchandises from England to the coast of Africa, and at and from thence to our Colonies in the West Indies, etc., were formerly insured with the following clause in the policy: -"Free from loss or average by trading in boats; and also from average occasioned by insurrection of slaves, if under 10 per cent.'

AFRICA, WEST COAST OF.-Nearly all Life offices prohibit the residence of their Ins. lives on this coast. It is doubtful if any rate of prem. likely to be obtained would cover the risk incident to such residence. In the Assu. Mag. (vol. i. p. 83) will be found a record of the mort. experienced by the officers and crews of Her Majesty's ships employed on the coast of Africa, in each year, from 1840 to 1848 inclusive. The rate fluctuated from a little over 2 up to nearly 8 per cent.

AFTERLIFETIME.-The afterlifetime of men of the age of 30 is 33 years, by the English Life Table (No. 1); 33 years is not the precise time probably that any one of that age will live, but the average time that a number of men of that age will live, taken one with another. At birth lifetime, and afterlifetime are one and the same thing. -Dr. Farr, 8th Report, R.G. For more detailed grounds of definition, see EXPECTATION of Life. Dr. Farr again says:

If 1000 or any given number of persons be taken at the age 20, and be followed to the end of life, the years which they live added together and divided by 1000, or by the number of persons, is generally, but incorrectly called the expectation of life. I shall call it the afterlifetime at 20.

AGAINST TOTAL LOSS ONLY.-This is a form of "Average Warranty" used in Marine Ins. Under it the underwriter is exempted from general as well as particular average, and remains liable only for total loss, absolute or constructive, and for such charges as may be incurred under the " Suing and Labour" clause, to avoid that contingency.-McArthur. AGE means generally a definite period or length of time. As applied to man, age may either mean the whole of his life, or a portion of it. It is usual to divide the whole period of human life into four parts or ages. The first, or infancy, extending to the 14th year (legal infancy extends to 21); the next, or youth, from the 14th to about the 25th; manhood from the 25th to the 50th or 60th; and the last, or old age, filling up the remainder. Ovid ingeniously compares these four ages to the four different seasons of the year. These divisions, however, are in a very great degree arbitrary, and they are frequently changed.

We subjoin the following able remarks from Dr. Pettigrew's Presumption of Survivorship, an essay of great merit :

With regard to age, it may be and has been variously estimated. Aristotle, e.g., divided life into three portions, viz., the period of growth, the period during which the body remains stationary, and that of decline; while Varro divided it into five, and Solon into ten. Hyppocrates and the greater number of the ancients adopted a septenary division, and this division has been almost universally adhered to in modern times. Thus the period of growth is made to include-Infancy (Infantia), Second Infancy, or Boyhood (Pueritia), and Adolescence (Adolescentia), the period during which the body undergoes little change; Youth (Juventus), and Manhood (Etas virilis); and the period of decline-Old Age and Decrepitude. Infancy, as commonly estimated, extends from the first to the seventh year; Second Infancy, or Boyhood, from the seventh to the fourteenth year; Adolesence, from the fourteenth to the seventeenth or eighteenth year; Youth, from the seventeenth or eighteenth year to the twenty-first, or, more properly, the twenty-fifth; Manhood, from the time the powers corporeal and mental are fully matured until Old Age and Decrepitude supervene. As the epochs which comprise the sum total of existence insensibly glide into each other, it has appeared to me that in framing rules for the regulation of questions of survivorship, we shall gain precision by reducing them to the lowest possible number, i.e., by fixing on such periods only as are characterized by obvious and well-marked bodily and mental changes. With this object in view, I have, on reflection, divided life into four great eras. The first, embracing Infancy and Childhood, and extending from the first to the fourteenth year, a period characterized by great bodily development; the second, comprising Adolescence and Youth, and extending from the fourteenth to the twenty-fifth year, at which latter period the body may be considered as having attained its full stature; the third, including Manhood, and extending from the twenty-fifth to the fifty-fifth, or, it may be, in some instances, to the sixtieth year, which era may be said to be the term of man's greatest mental and bodily activity; and the fourth, or last era, comprehending Old Age and Decrepitude, when the body may be considered as gradually giving way. The latter period, I may remark, forms the converse of Infancy and Childhood, when the body rapidly developes.

AGE ADMITTED.-In consequence of the difficulties which sometimes arise in proving the exact age of a person insured under a life policy, after the death of such person, the good practice has been introduced into modern Life Ins. of supplying such proof when the ins. is effected, and of getting the age admitted on the policy, by the indorsement of the office issuing the same: after which there can be no further trouble on that head. The Agriculturist Life (1851) made it a condition of ins. that proof of age should be furnished in every case, and age admitted. Other offices have talked of such a regulation, but its adoption has not been enforced. [AGE, PROOF OF.] [CLAIMS.] The effect of "age admitted" on the market value of a policy is sometimes very considerable. AGE AS AN ELEMENT IN INS.-In the early practice of Life Ins., the circumstance of age was not regarded as one of the important elements of the risk. All who were ins, were taken at the same rate, viz., £5 for ins. £100 for one year. This was a rate admitting of some latitude. It was only when a MORT. TABLE was constructed that the means of measuring the chances of life as determined by age were provided. It will be seen that the Roman law-givers without a mort. table-for no writer has yet contended that they had onemade some very close approximations. The early traders in Life Ins. here did not enter upon such distinctions of detail. We shall treat of these subjects more at large under head of ANNUITIES, LIFE INS. We only desire at this point to fix upon the mind the importance of the epoch when age became recognized as an important incident of Life Ins. It is not only in Life Ins. that the question of age enters. In MARINE Ins. ships are classed, if classed at all, for a certain number of years. An experienced underwriter understands the various phases in the life of a ship-aye, the influence and incidents of climate-the consequences of undue wear and tear, even as a physician estimates corresponding circumstances upon the human being. Some day shall we not include in our Ins. Library the "Life of a Ship from an Underwriter's Point of View"?

In ACCIDENT Ins. certain limits of age only are of consequence. No office that understands its business will grant Ins. on lives under 18, or continue them on lives over 60, except at a very largely increased prem. or otherwise than exceptional cases.

In CATTLE Ins., and in CARRIAGE ACCIDENT Ins., age may become an important element in estimating the risk. It is sometimes so in STEAM BOILER Ins.

Returning to Life Ins., some points have to be specially noted. The Life offices in Gt. Brit. always accept lives at the age next birthday. It is probable that, from this cause (allowing for selection against the practice), the lives on the books are on an average some four months younger than they nominally stand at. In the U.S., the nearest birthday is adopted for fixing the age or prem. To be exact, 183 days are allowed after last birthday-after that, the age ranks for next birthday. In that case the lives should be on an

average exactly of the age at which they stand in the books of the Co., excepting always in the cases of add. for impaired lives. [Age, Proof of.]

Dr. Ward, in his Medical Estimate of Life for Life Assu., says, regarding age:

The medical referee has nothing to do with actual proof of age, but only to remember that it is relative rather than positive; and that some persons from inherent weakness of constitution, bad habits, or other exhausting causes, grow old before the age of 40, while others far advanced in years are virtually young as regards effective performance of function and vigour of constitution. Where any great discrepancy exists between the real age and that apparent in the aspect, gait, and force, it will be necessary to ascertain if possible the cause of such, or, at any rate, to conduct a more searching examination as to health and habits.

AGE ASSU. Co., founded in 1851, with an authorized cap. of £100,000, in 10,000 shares of 10. The prosp. said, “It has been calculated that not more than one in ten of the heads of families amongst those likely to ins. have yet availed themselves of the advantages of Life Assu.; and considering the fact, and the continued increase of pop., there is ample bus. for many new offices." Again, "The large profits which have been made by existing Cos. have been produced by a very limited amount of bus. compared with what might be obtained if more liberal principles were acted upon by the offices." Among the features of the Co. were these: A surrender value of "at least one half the prems. paid" was to be given on whole-term pol. Lapsed pol. might be renewed, "without proof of health," if the omission to pay had been "accidental." Married lives were to be ins. at lower prems. than unmarried ones. Policies indefeasible. Deposit Ins. granted. Policies payable to nominee of Ins., "thus saving the great expense and delay of attending the proving a will or obtaining letters of administration." It also paid "int. on all policies from the death of the Ins." Finally (said the share prosp.), "there can be no doubt that the public will gladly avail themselves of these, and of the other advantages offered by this Co., and as they will give an ample profit to the office, a large and very remunerative bus. must be obtained."

A considerable portion of the cap. was subs., but an obstinate or short-sighted public did not see all the advantages offered by the Co., or if it saw them failed to come in. The Co. in 1856 amalg. with the Engineers, and was afterwards known as the Engineers and Age; and in 1859 that Co. amalg. with the English and Irish Church, which see. Mr. William Owen was consulting actuary.

AGE, OLD. See LONGEVITY, and OLD AGE.

AGE, PROOF OF.-It is one of first essentials in Life Ins. and annuity transactions that the real age of the lives interested or put forward as the basis of the transaction should be correctly stated. In the case of endowments and reversions, and indeed in all contracts relating to the duration of life, the present age must become an important consideration as influencing not only pecuniary values, but even the very acceptance or rejection of the proposal.

In Life Policies there is generally a condition to the effect that reasonable proof will be required of the date of birth, unless that fact shall have been previously estab. and the "age admitted." [AGE ADMITTED.]

The usual evidence tendered is a baptismal certificate, extracted from the parish books by the officiating minister; or, in the case of Dissenters, of an extract from the registers of births and baptisms kept by those bodies; or, in the case of Jews, from the register of births and circumcisions kept at the synagogue; in every case signed and certified as a true copy, by the officer to whose custody the original is entrusted.

Parish registers are not evidence of the time of birth, but of baptism only; since it is not the duty of the minister to register the former. A person may be baptized when considerably advanced in years; many registers do profess to give the date of birth, and where they do such a circumstance should be regarded.

Since 1837 in England the General Registration Act has been in force. It will soon begin to bear fruits in the direction we are now speaking of. Similar Acts have since been passed for Scotland and Ireland. [GENERAL REGISTRATION.]

When the registers, under the old system, do not contain the necessary proof, recourse must be had to secondary evidence; such is the production of an entry in the family Bible or Prayer-book, or even in an almanack. A statutory declaration made by some member of the family or other person who can speak from personal knowledge of the fact testified will sometimes suffice.

Mr. Bunyon says:

It is notoriously true that evidence on this point is often very difficult to obtain; as, for instance, in the case of children which have been born abroad, or those of dissenters, of whose baptism no evidence is preserved; or where they have been privately baptized, and no entry made in the parish books; or where the books themselves--and this is especially common in Ireland-have been imperfectly kept. After the death of the party the proof becomes doubly difficult. Secondary evidence which might have been suggested is then lost.

It does not follow that because the evidence is difficult to obtain, that it should therefore in every case be dispensed with. Much must be left to the discretion and good faith of the officers of the company in which the life is insured.

(Proof sheets):

Mr. W. T. Thomson speaks upon the subject as follows. It has been the practice among some offices to require proof of age at death, if not previously afforded. This we conceive to be most unjust; it ought to be given or required at the commencement

of the contract, and ought never to be delayed till a claim arises; both assurer and assured are wrong in not attending to this, but more particularly the office, if they consider themselves entitled to require it at death. One case has come under our notice lately, where proof of age was required thirty-two years after the policy was effected. The gentleman had been in the service of the Hon. East India Company, and it was discovered that in some official declaration to them he had made himself out four years older than stated to the office. The parties could procure no evidence to show that this was wrong, though they felt morally convinced that it was so, and were obliged to submit to a deduction from the sum assured. The amount assured was £6000, and the difference of premium, with compound interest, amounted to upwards of £2000, which the office held themselves entitled to deduct at settlement; but they did not insist upon their full rights, and gave a deduction of one-half. Still the case, although hard enough on the representatives, might have been worse, as the policy could have been reduced altogether, on the ground of mis-statement in the original proposal. Our advice is, that evidence of age should always be produced at first.

It is usual, where the mis-statement in age is believed to have been accidental, to rectify the matter by deducting from or add. to the sum ins. No more reasonable method can be devised.

AGE, "PUT UP."-In the case of impaired or diseased lives, it is usual where they are taken at all to make an add. of years, intended to be equivalent to the degree of impairment in each particular case. This is termed "putting up" the age. In actuarial valuations all such cases require special treatment. [DISEASED LIVES.] [VALUATION.] AGENCY.-Agency in a legal sense implies legal duties and responsibilities. These we shall speak of generally under AGENT.

AGENCY COMMISSIONS.-As most of the Ins. Asso. other than Marine Cos. obtain the greater proportion of their bus. through the introduction of their agents, it follows that a commission must be allowed to such agents for their services. The rates of commission vary not only with the classes of bus. transacted, but in some instances amongst the offices carrying on the same bus. It must be understood therefore that the following are only approximate rates :

Fire Ins. usually 10 p.c. on the prem. both new and renewal, with a procuration fee in add. for new policies. When the duty on Fire Ins. was in force, some offices allowed agents 2p.c. on the duty.

Life Ins. usually 10 p.c. on the first prem. and 5 p.c. on renewals. District and general agents have larger allowances to cover expenses and time employed in their duties. Accidental Ins., generally 10 p.c. both on new prem. and renewals.

Glass Ins. 12 p c. on new prems, and 10 p.c. on renewals.

Hail-Storm Ins. 10 p.c. on new and renewals.

Cattle Ins. 12 p.c. on new and 10 p.c. on renewals.

Steam Boiler Ins. 10 p.c. on new and 5 p.c. on renewals.

On Marine Ins. there is a brokerage of 5 p.c., and a discount for cash paid within a certain number of days, frequently 10 p.c.

The foregoing commissions relate to ins. in England. On the Continent of Europe, and especially in France, the commissions range much higher. But the agents generally give up their whole time to the bus., and become much more proficient than ordinary agents in Eng. In the U.S. the commissions are much the same as in England. But there also the agents confine their attention solely to ins. bus., often acting for several large and important Cos. at the same time, and making princely incomes by reason of the enterprise they throw into the bus. [BROKERAGE COMMISSION.]

The practice of giving commissions for the intro. of life bus. was first introduced early in the present century, and then only by one or two of the more enterprising offices. Mr. Francis Baily, writing in 1810, thus expresses himself on the subject :—

Many of the public cos. who do not make any return of the profits to the assured allow a liberal prem. (generally 5 p.c. on the payment made) to any person who will procure an ins. to be effected at their office; and this commission is also allowed to any person who makes the annual payment, provided it be not the party himself!! An artifice which is easily seen through; but which opens such a door to fraud and imposition that it cannot be too severely reprobated. And however much it may be sanctioned by the Directors in their public capacity; we are all aware what their emotions would be if they discovered any of their tradesmen tampering with their own servants in this opprobrious manner, since they must well know who would eventually pay for it. I omit to give the names of those cos. who have adopted this nefarious practice, under the hope that such a mean and improper artifice will not be encouraged in future.

There are Life Offices which have never adopted the commission system, viz., the Equitable, Lond. Life, Metropolitan and Mutual; and there are some, as the various Legal Ins. Offices, which have no agents in the strict sense of the term, but allow a commission to all solicitors who introduce bus. [solicitors in the English, not the American sense.] Some of the non-legal offices also allow a commission to solicitors intro. bus., whether agents for the Co. or not. Several other offices, as the Economic and National Provident, have been contemplating the abandonment of the agency system; but we believe have come to no actual decision to that effect.

AGENDA.-Lat. Things to be done. Hence the name of the book used by the Chairman of the Board. Most Ins. Asso. have "agenda books" prepared in relation to any special points in their bus., so that the board agenda assumes the character of a current report on the position of the asso. A most excellent method.

AGENT. A person appointed to transact the business of another.-Law Dic.

AGENT, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF. In all questions arising upon the acts

of agents, it is a settled rule of law that such acts are only binding upon the principal, to the extent of the agency or delegated power; and for any such act, the power may be either express or incidental to the office conferred. The employment of an agent in any particular capacity gives the necessary authority to act under ordinary circumstances only. If an emergency occurs, an act of agency in excess of authority is upon the agent's own responsibility, and he must take the chance of the approval or disapproval of his principal. So an action may be brought against an agent who, by making an inaccurate statement as to the extent of his authority, induces any person to enter into a contract. While the principal duties of an ins. agent are to obtain applications to ins., and to receive and remit the necessary prems., other duties often for convenience devolve upon him. The powers and responsibilities of an agent are hence frequently considerable. As a rule the agent can only enter into a temporary contract pending the decision of the Co., such as the accepting a Fire Ins. risk by deposit receipt until the office has determined upon the proposal. Where an agent is publicly advertised and officially accredited as the agent by the Co, he is assumed by the public to possess the powers customarily entrusted to Ins. agents. It is therefore essential that he should scrupulously keep within the instructions issued for his guidance.-Ins. Agent.

Persons acting in the capacity of agents for Ins. Asso. must closely follow the instructions of their principals (the asso. and its proper officers), and by no means attempt to exceed the limits of the delegated authority. They cannot bind the Co. so as to alter the conditions of any contract of ins. or revive a lapsed policy without the express previous approval of the Directors; and cannot involve it in any fresh liability by pledging it to any new or additional ins. contract. Neither are they empowered, without express authority, to receive notices of assignment, notices of claim, or other notices on behalf of the Co., which shall be binding upon it.-Bunyon.

In the case of Acey v. Fernie, an agent issued a receipt after the lapsing of a policy, such receipt bearing on the face of it a clause to the effect that if the receipt was not taken up within 15 days of the prem. becoming due, it must be returned to the office, "as after that period, the ins. being cancelled, the several receipts will be of no avail." It was held that the agent had no authority for what he had done, and that the receipt proved it.

An agent cannot delegate his rights to another so as to bind the principal, unless expressly authorized to nominate a sub-agent.

The insured is liable for any misrepresentation or concealment made by an agent acting under his orders, and who is in any wise instrumental in procuring the ins. ; and the concealment of any material fact known to the agent, even though not known to the insured, may avoid the contract. This principle was settled in the case of Fitzherbert v. Mather, by Lord Mansfield in 1785; and by Lord Ellenborough in Gladstone v. King in 1813. They were both Marine Ins. cases. Similar decisions have been given in the U.S. If the agent of the office act also as agent of the insured in effecting the ins., even an unintentional mis-statement through such agent may be a breach of warranty. This was decided by Lord Lyndhurst in Parsons v. Bignold, 1846.

When an agent undertakes to obtain an ins. for a third party, he should execute the commission with diligence, for he may be liable to an action for neglecting to do so; and this is equally true whether the party undertaking the commission is an ins. agent or not, and although he may act gratuitously in the matter, as was settled in the case of Wilkinson v. Coverdale (1793). Should a discretion be allowed him, he will be liable if he deals with asso. or persons who are not responsible; and the measure of his liability will be that of the insurers. Should he be unable to effect the policy, to prevent any right of complaint or liability attaching against himself, he should give notice of his inability to the intending

insurer.

In the case of Linford v. The Provincial Horse and Cattle Ins. Co., which came before the Master of the Rolls in 1864, it was held that an ordinary local agent of an ins. co. is not, without special authority, authorized to bind the Co. by a contract to grant a policy. The facts of the case will be given in more detail in the hist of that particular Co.

The power of a general agent for a mercantile company must be ascertained by the usage of the trade; and the mode of transacting bus. in that department in which he is employed will, in the absence of express directions, often determine a doubt as to the liability of the principal. The principal officers of an Ins. asso., such as the managing director, sec., or actuary, fill the character of general agent, and possess all such powers as may be necessary for enabling them to conduct the buisness of their offices. They may be responsible for the fraud of the Co., and for false accounts issued by it, in like manner as directors may be, and that not only in damages at common law, but penalty by statute.Bunyon.

As between the agent himself and the Co. if the directors appoint him, and allow him to act as agent of the Co., and he does so act bona fide, and without notice of any irregularity in his appointment, the Co. will be liable to him for his salary, although he may not have been appointed precisely in the manner prescribed by the regulations of the Co. This was estab. in Browning v. Great Central Mining Co.

Mr. Lindley, reviewing this and other decided cases, offers the following important observations: