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CODE 



COD-LIVER OIL 



and promulgated between 1804 and 1810. It con- 

 sisted of live parts viz. the ' Code Civil,' dealing 

 with the main body of the private law ; the ' Code 

 de Procedure Civile;' the 'Code de Commerce,' 

 dealing with the laws relating to commercial 

 affairs ; the ' Code d'lnstruction Criminelle ; ' and, 

 finally, the 'Code Penal.' Each of these five parts 

 was independent of the others, though prepared on 

 the same system and governed by a uniformity of 

 plan. In order to prevent absolutely an appeal ih 

 any case to the authority of the old laws and 

 customs, it was expressly enacted that if cases 

 should occur for which the code had made no pro- 

 vision, the judge should decide according to what 

 he might consider to be good sense and equity or 

 ancient custom in this respect differing from the 

 Prussian Landrecht, which requires that any ques- 

 tions unprovided for by it shall be referred by the 

 " idge to a legislative commission for decision, 

 he Code Napoleon ( or, as it has been re-christened 

 under the Republic, the Code Civil) remains in 

 Torce as the law of France at the present day, and 

 despite many defects in its original construction 

 necessitating a large number of interpretative com- 

 mentaries it has, beyond doubt, proved a great 

 boon to that country. Napoleon (though he had, 

 of course, no share in the legal work performed by 

 Cambaceres, Tronchet, Pothier, &c.) is said to have 

 been prouder of it than of any of his victories. The 

 best test of his excellence is that it has been (in 

 whole or part) the model for a large number of 

 continental codes ; as, for example, those of Belgium, 

 Italy, and Greece. So also in the Rhenish pro- 

 vinces, upon which it was originally imposed by 

 force, it remains to this day the basis of legislation. 



(3) German Codes. Prior to the constitution of 

 the present German empire in 1871, two important 

 codes of the German commercial law had been 

 prepared and adopted by the North German Con- 

 federation. These were the Wechsel-Ordnung, 

 codifying the laws relating to bills of exchange, 

 which was published in 1848, and the Allgemeines 

 Handelsgesetzbtich, codifying the whole commer- 

 cial law, exclusive of bills of exchange and bank- 

 ruptcy, which was published in 1861. Since 1871 

 these two codes have been made applicable to the 

 whole of the empire, and three otlier departments 

 of the law have since been codified viz. the law 

 of bankruptcy (Konkurs-recht), the law of pro- 

 cedure, and the criminal law. A commission was 

 charged with the enormous task of codifying the 

 whole civil law of Germany, and from time to time 

 groups of laws have been adapted for the empire. 



( 4 ) United States Codes. In most of the states 

 codification, either of the whole law or of particular 

 branches of it, has been effected. At the same time 

 it is noticeable that in one or two of the states the 

 expediency of codifying the private law is still much 

 controverted. This is particularly the case with 

 New York, where in 1857-65 a draft civil code was 

 prepared (mainly by the distinguished jurist, Mr 

 Dudley Field), but did not receive the sanction 

 of the legislature. This code has, however, been 

 adopted by California and (with modifications) the 

 Dakotas. The penal code Avas adopted in 1882. 



(5) British and Colonial Codes. The only result 

 in the way of codification achieved in the United 

 Kingdom is in the department of the law which 

 relates to bills of exchange ( including promissory- 

 notes and cheques). By the Bills of Exchange 

 Act, 1882, the statute and common law of the 

 three kingdoms relating to this important depart- 

 ment of mercantile jurisprudence was in great 

 measure reduced to the form of a code. This 

 enactment is, perhaps, not a complete code in the 

 strict sense, seeing that it does not profess to 

 entirely shut the door of the common law in ques- 

 tions affecting bills decisions prior to the Act 



being still authoritative so far as they are not 

 inconsistent with its express provisions. But in 

 other respects it fulfils the proper requirements of 

 a code. Having been drafted with much care and 

 skill, it has, since it came into force, proved of 

 great value and benefit to the mercantile com- 

 munity in the way of diminishing litigation and 

 otherwise. Efforts have been and are now being 

 made by law-reformers (prominent among them being 

 Sir James F. Stephen) to have other branches of 

 the law codified, and more particularly the law of 

 evidence and the law of crimes, and criminal pro- 

 cedure. As regards British possessions it may just 

 be observed that an excellent code exists in Canada, 

 and that in India several branches of the law have 

 been codified by the celebrated Anglo-Indian codes. 

 The criminal code of India was drawn up in the 

 year 1837 under the auspices of Lord Macaulay, 

 though it was not promulgated till 1860. 



Codeine, an alkaloid obtained from poppy- 

 heads. See POPPY. 



Codex (Lat., 'manuscript,' pi. CODICES : see 

 CODE), the name applied to ancient manuscripts, 

 as of the classics or of the Scriptures. Of the latter 

 class the four great Uncials (q.v.) are the Codex 

 Sinaiticus, discovered in 1844 and 1859 in the mon- 

 astery of Mount Sinai by Tischendorf, and the 

 Codex Vaticanus, both of the 4th century ; and the 

 Codex Alexandrinus ( see under ALEXANDRIA ) 

 and Codex Ephraemi of the 5th century. All four 

 originally contained the Old and New Testament 

 complete, but none are perfect copies, while the 

 last, besides having great lacunae, is almost 

 illegible. See PALIMPSEST. 



Codicil (Lat. codicillus, diminutive of codex) ,, 

 a supplement to a will, whereby anything omitted 

 is added, or any change demanded by the altered 

 circumstances of the testator or the beneficiaries, 

 is effected. A codicil is authenticated in the same 

 manner as a will, and possesses the same privileges 

 when holograph, or written by the hand of the 

 testator himself. See WILL. 



Codilla is the coarsest part of hemp and also of 

 flax, sorted out and separated from the rest. 



Codlin Moth (Carpocapsa pomonana), the 

 moth whose larvae cause the ' worm-eaten ' apples, 

 which fall prematurely off. 



Cod-liver Oil is generally obtained from the 

 livers of the common Cod (q.v.), but likewise from 

 allied species, as ling, dorse, coal-fish, torsk, &c. 

 In these fish the Adipose Tissue (q.v.) containing 

 oil is almost entirely confined to the liver, in which 

 they agree with the shark tribe, whilst in other 

 fish, as in the herring and salmon, the oil is diffused 

 over the entire structure of the animal. The sup- 

 plies of medicinal cod-liver oil used to be derived 

 mainly from Newfoundland, but Norway now sup- 

 plies the bulk of that used in Great Britain. The 

 most famous of the Norwegian fishing-grounds is- 

 that of the Lofoden Islands. On the outer shores 

 of these islands immense shoals of fish begin to 

 arrive in December, but owing to the storms to- 

 which the coasts are liable, only a comparatively 

 small number of boats (some 800) engage in the 

 fishing. Later on, in the beginning of January, 

 the fish pass in between the islands and enter the 

 calmer waters of the Westfjord to spawn. Then 

 the fishermen, assembling in immense numbers, 

 catch the fish by net or baited line. A good catch 

 for a boat, with a crew of five men and a boy,, 

 is from 600 to 1200 fish ; and some idea of the im- 

 portance of this industry is obtained from the 

 fact that in a single year these fisheries alone 

 employed 4000 vessels, with a crew of 27,OOO 

 men, the catch amounting to 25,000,000 of fish. 

 The fishing-grounds being near the shore, the- 



