COMoilN 



ro.MI'ANV 



389 



i- \ii.-inity. Tin- tot ill length of tin 1 lake from Cunio 

 1. 1 Ilixai- alMiut :<() mile>. Fifteen iiiili-s from its 

 northern extremity, the promontory of BeUaggfo 

 divide- it into two liranclit-s, tin- shorter of which is 

 called the l.a^'odi Lecco. The greatest l>n-alth of 

 tin- lake is 2A miles, hut throughout the greatest 

 part of its length it is much less. It is 063 feet 

 above sea-level, hits a mean depth of 870 feet, 

 and IH 1352 feet deep at the deepest part. The 

 beauty of the surrounding scenery and the salniu ii \ 

 of the climate have made the Lake of Como the 

 most celebrated and most resorted to in Italy, its 

 shores being everywhere studded with noble villas. 

 See Lund, Como and the Italian Lakes (1887). 



Coiliorill'v CAPK (Kmndri), the most southerly 

 extremity of the peninsula of India, being, in fact, 

 a -and v accretion to the termination of the Western 

 Chats. The low headland is in the state of Travan- 

 core, and its lat. and long, are 8 4' 20" N., and 

 77 35' 35" E. 



Co'llioro Isles* a group of four islands belong- 

 ing to France, in the Mozambique Channel, be- 

 tween Africa and Madagascar. The islands, which 

 are of volcanic origin, are mountainous, and have 

 an extremely fertile soil, are called Angaziya or 

 Great Comoro, Anjouan or Johanna, Mohilla, and 

 Mayotta. Great Comoro is 35 miles long, and has 

 a population of 35,000 ; its highest point is 8500 

 feet. Johanna, next in size, with 12,000. inhabit- 

 ants, has a British consul and a British coaling 

 station. Mohilla, the smallest, is 15 miles long, 

 and has 6000 inhabitants. These became French 

 in 1886. Mayotta or Mayotte, 21 miles long, and 

 with a pop. (1885) of 10,049, has been a trench 

 possession since 1841. At the capital, Dsaudsi 

 or Nzaondzi, are government buildings, a few 

 hundred French soldiers, and numerous officials. 

 The annual imports and exports of the island have 

 each a value of over 2,000,000 francs. In all the 

 islands the blood of the natives is partially Arab, 

 partially Malagasy ; the Sakalavas having occupied 

 part of Mayotte after the conquest of Madagascar 

 by the Hovas. See MADAGASCAR. 



Company, although it may be applied to every 

 kind of partnership, is generally used in connection 

 with the law of joint-stock companies. These differ 

 from the ordinary Partnership (q.v.) chiefly in 

 the fact of the shares of the capital stock being 

 transferable, generally apart from the consent of 

 the remaining partners, although power is often 

 reserved to object to a transferee ; and also in 

 the fact that full powers of management are 

 devolved on directors and other officials to the 

 exclusion, more or less complete, of the share- 

 holders. An unincorporated joint-stock company 

 at common law, such for instance as the famous 

 Carron Iron Company, is really a partnership in 

 many respects, its partners being liable without 

 limit for the debts of the company. Under the 

 Letters Patent Act, 1837, however, it may obtain 

 several privileges of incorporation. 



It is not lawful for more than ten persons to 

 carry on a joint-stock banking company at com- 

 mon law, nor for more than twenty persons to 

 carry on any other kind of joint-stock company 

 at common law : all such concerns must register 

 under the Companies Acts. Unincorporated com 

 panics may be made bankrupt and wound up in 

 the ordinary way by sequestration, but it is also 

 competent by a liquidation petition to apply to 

 them the usual machinery for recovering tne con- 

 tributions due by members of registered companies, 

 and adjusting the rights and liabilities of con 

 tributaries inter se. Of course, the constitution 

 of such common-law companies varies indefinitely 

 with the provisions of the agreement under which 

 they act. There is also in existence a large class 



oi r-im|i;mien created by royal charter, which have 

 a legal corporate existence apart from their in- 

 dividual memljerH, and a perpetual Hiiccetwion and 

 a common seal. In Much cases the charter defines, 

 more or less clearly, the object* and the powero 

 of the corporation and the mode of management, 

 but the majority of members have within these 

 limits considerable powers of framing bylaws. 

 Where the charter is silent on the subject there 

 is no direct liability of the membei- to the public 

 at all, and their liability is limited to the unpaid 

 balance of their shares. But the crown was em- 

 powered by statute to express in such charters 

 that the liability of members is unlimited ; and 

 such until 1882 was the position of most of the large 

 Scottish banks. The royal power to create corjjora- 

 tions by charter was in certain cases delegated to 

 borghfl in Scotland, who exercised it by granting 

 seals of cause. Of course, the validity of the pro- 

 visions even of a royal charter may be questioned 

 in a court of law. 



Still another class of companies consists of those 

 incorporated by act of parliament. Here no objec- 

 tion can be raised to the act of an all-powerful 

 legislature. Such statutes, besides conferring the 

 ordinary privileges of incorporation, generally give 

 further parliamentary powers required for the 

 particular undertaking e.g. a right to levy tolls. 

 All such particular statutes, which can be obtained 

 only on giving the guarantees required by the 

 practice of parliament in private bills, are all 

 now subject to the general provisions of the Com- 

 panies Clauses Acts of 1845, 1863, and 1869. 

 These general acts deal not only with such 

 matters as the issue of new capital, the creation of 

 debenture stock, the change of name, but also with 

 the general administration of the company, the 

 powers of directors, the transference and forfeiture 

 of shares, &c. Such statutory companies may also 

 be placed in liquidation under the Companies Act 

 of 1862. 



The great mass of joint-stock companies, how- 

 ever, in this country owe their incorporation not 

 to royal charter or statute, but to registration 

 under the Limited Liability Acts, which began in 

 1855, but which are now all merged in the great 

 statute of 1862, supplemented on various occasions 

 down to 1880. As a general rule the provisions of 

 the Act of 1862 apply, without fresh registration, 

 to the companies formed and registered prior to 

 that date. The new procedure is that any seven 

 people, by subscribing a memorandum of association 

 which states the name, place of business, and 

 general objects, and delivering it to the registrar 

 ( there is a separate registrar for England, Scot- 

 land, and Ireland ), may obtain a certificate of incor- 

 poration with or without limited liability. The 

 great majority of these companies have been 

 limited by shares viz. the shareholders are liable 

 only for the amount uncalled upon their shares. 

 But cases of unlimited liability are not uncommon, 

 and both banks and insurance companies have 

 frequently availed themselves of the facilities 

 afforded ry registration ; in the case of banks, 

 the liability remaining unlimited as regards the 

 note issue, while the liability of shareholders for 

 other obligations of the bank is restricted in the 

 usual way. An insurance company requires to 

 make a deposit of 20,000 before registration. It 

 is sufficient if each of -the seven subscribers of the 

 memorandum of association subscribes for oneshare. 

 Companies not formed for commercial profit may 

 be registered by license of the Board of Trade. 

 After the memorandum come the articles of asso- 

 ciation, which in most cases are, slightly modified, 

 one of the sets of model regulations known as 

 Schedule A and B of the statute. The general 

 effect of registration is to make the applicant* and 



