THE LAW OF TORTS. BY J. F. CLERK, OF THE INNER TEMPLE AND THE SOUTH-EASTERN CIRCUIT, BARRISTER-AT-LAW, AND W. H. B. LINDSELL, OF LINCOLN'S INN AND THE MIDLAND CIRCUIT, BARRISTER-AT-LAW, BEING THE LATEST ENGLISH EDITION AS REVISED BY MR. WYATT PAINE, WITH CANADIAN NOTES ON THE DECISIONS AND STATUTES OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING BY A. T. HUNTER, LL.B., OF OSGOODE HALL, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. LONDON: SWEET & MAXWELL, LIMITED. TORONTO: THE CARSWELL COMPANY, LIMITED. 1908. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. DURING the very short period which has elapsed since the issue of the Third Edition of Clerk and Lindsell on Torts a considerable number of actions dealing with the wrongful invasion of the civil rights of individuals have been adjudicated upon by the Courts. In particular, very important cases are Scarborough v. Cosgrove (a), relating to the liability of boarding-house keepers for negligence; The AttorneyGeneral and Monmouth County Council v. Scott (b), discussing alike the duties and obligations of local authorities with regard to repairs, and of persons using the King's highway for extraordinary traffic; and Kine v. Jolly (c), and Higgins v. Betts (d), upon the quantum of obstruction to ancient lights which will entitle an aggrieved party to a mandatory injunction. In the present edition the Editor has endeavoured, not only to epitomize the effect of these and very many other recent decisions, but also, by incorporating in the text a considerable number of the longer foot-notes contained in the earlier edition, generally to facilitate reference and thereby to enhance the utility of the work to the legal practitioner. (a) (1905) 2 K. B. 805, C. A. (b) (1904) 1 K. B. 404, C. A. ; but see S. C. (1905) 2 K. B. 160, C. A. See also Chichester Corporation v. Foster, (1905) 22 T. L. R. 18; and Hemsworth Rural Council v. Micklethwaite, (1904) 2 L. G. R. 1084. (e) (1905) 1 Ch. 480, C. A. The last few sessions of Parliament have not been prolific in Legislation germane to a work on Torts; the Trade Marks Act, 1905, as consolidating and amending the law on this important subject (a), is, however, a much needed addition to the Statute Book, and has been dealt with at considerable length in the present volume. The Railway Fires Act (b) (which comes into operation on January 1st, 1908), and is interesting as applying, to some extent, the old common law right of action to the case of persons injured by the Torts of corporations, acting in pursuance of Statutory Powers, is also discussed in the text. The Editor desires to express his indebtedness to his friend Mr. Harold B. Barkworth, of the Inner Temple and Western Circuit, Barrister-at-Law, for valuable assistance in revision throughout the work. 4, HARCOURT BUILDINGS, TEMPLE, E.C. February, 1906. WYATT PAINE. (a) 5 Edw. VII. c. 15. (b) 5 Edw. VII. c. 11. PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. PROBABLY in no branch of Law is the process of evolution, so essentially characteristic of every living system of jurisprudence when untrammelled by the fetters of codification, more conspicuous than in that which treats of civil wrongs to the individual and their appropriate remedies, in contradistinction to those felonies and misdemeanours which are punishable by the State as offences against society at large. It is consequently small matter for surprise that during the eight years that have elapsed since the issue of the last edition of Clerk and Lindsell on Torts many considerable and important changes have taken place in that wide field of Law with which a Treatise on so extensive a subject necessarily deals. Having regard to the varied modifications resulting from judicial decisions and legislation, and the large number of modern cases of importance, the Editor of the present edition; in his endeavour to preserve the original scope and style of the work and to eliminate none of those features which have earned for the earlier editions so worthy a place among standard legal treatises, and yet at the same time to bring the work up to date; has found it necessary somewhat to increase the size of the volume. Something has been rewritten, much added, and, it is |