CON 



CON 



Nova Zembla, and the lands of Jesso. 

 The fourth comprehends New Holland, 

 &c. 



CONTINGENT, something casual or 

 uncertain. Hence future contingent, in 

 logic, denotes a conditional event which 

 may or may not happen, according as cir- 

 cumstances fall out. 



CONTINGENT is also a term of relation 

 for the quota that falls to any person upon 

 a division. Thus each prince in Germany, 

 in time of war, was formerly obliged to 

 furnish so many men, so much money and 

 ammunition, for his contingent. 



CONTIHGENT use, in law, is an use li- 

 mited in a conveyance of lands which may 

 or may not happen to vest, according to 

 the contingency mentioned in the limita- 

 tion of the use. And a contingent re- 

 mainder is when an estate is limited to 

 take place at a time to come, on an un- 

 certain event. 



COXTIKGEKT legacy, is a legacy which 

 may or may not happen. If a legacy be 

 left to one when he shall attain, or if he 

 shall attain, the age of twenty -one years, 

 this is a contingent legacy, and if the le- 

 gatee die before that time, the legacy 

 shall not vest. But a legacy to one, to be 

 paid when he attains the age of twenty- 

 one years, is a vested legacy ; an interest 

 .which commences in praesenti, although it 

 be solvenduminfuturo : and if the legatee 

 die before that age, his representatives 

 shall receive it out of the testator's per- 

 sonal estate, at the same time that it would 

 have become payable in case the legatee 

 had lived. 



CONTINUANCE of a -writ or action, is 

 its continuing in force from one term to 

 another, where the sheriff has not re- 

 turned a former writ issued out in the 

 same action. With respect to continu- 

 ances, the court of King's Bench is not 

 to enter them on the roll till after issue 

 or demurrer, and then they enter the con- 

 tinuance of all on the back, before judg- 

 ment. 



CONTINUED proportion, in arithmetic, 

 is that where the consequent of the first 

 ratio is the same with the antecedent of 

 the second ; as 4 : 8 : : 8 : 16, in contra- 

 distinction to discrete proportion. 



CONTORTION, in medicine, has many 

 significations. 1. It denotes the iliac pas- 

 sion. 2. An incomplete dislocation, when 

 a bone is in part, but not entirely, forced 

 from its articulation* 3. A dislocation of 

 the vertebrae of the back sideways, or a 

 crookedness of these Vertebrae. And, 4. 

 A disorder of the head, in which it is 



VOL. IV. 



drawn towards one side, either by a spas- 

 modic contraction of the muscles on the 

 same side, or a palsy of the antagonist 

 muscles on the other. 



CONTORT JE, in botany, twisted plants. 

 The name of the thirteenth order in Lin- 

 naeus's fragments of a natural method, 

 consisting of plants which have a single 

 petal that is twisted or bent toward one 

 side. This order is divided into plants 

 with twisted flowers, having five stamina 

 and one style ; and plants with twisted 

 flowers, having five stamina and scarce 

 any style ; of the first, the genus Vinca, 

 periwinkle, is an example ; of the se- 

 cond, Apocynum, dog's-bane, is an ex- 

 ample. 



CONTORTED, in natural history, twist- 

 ed, or incumbent on each other in an ob- 

 lique direction. 



CONTOUR, in painting, the out-line, 

 or that which defines a figure. 



CONTRABAND, in commerce, a pro- 

 hibited commodity or merchandise, bought 

 or sold, imported or exported, in pre- 

 judice to the laws and ordinances of a 

 state, or the public prohibitions of the 

 sovereign. Contraband goods are not 

 only liable to confiscation themselves, 

 but also subject all other allowed mer- 

 chandise found with them in the same 

 box, bale or parcel, together with the 

 horses, waggons, 8cc. which conduct 

 them. There are contrabands likewise, 

 which, besides the forfeit ure of the goods, 

 are attended with several penalties and 

 disabilities. 



In this country, there are two principal 

 contrabands for exportation, wools and 

 live sheep, which all strangers are pro- 

 hibited from carrying out of the coun- 

 try ; the other, that of sheep skins and 

 calf skins. See CUSTOMS. 



CONTRACT, in a general sense, a mu- 

 tual consent of two or more parties, who 

 voluntarily promise and oblige themselves 

 to do something, pay a certain sum, or 

 the like. All donations, exchanges, leases, 

 &c. are so many different contracts. 



CONTRACT, in common law, an agree- 

 ment or bargain between two or more 

 persons, with a legal consideration or 

 cause ; as where a person sells goods, 

 &c. to another for a sum of money ; or 

 covenants, in consideration of a certain 

 sum, or an annual rent, to grant a lease 

 of a messuage, &c. Contracts are two- 

 fold, either express or implied. Express 

 contracts are where the terms of the 

 agreement are openly uttered, as, to pay. 

 a stated price for certain goods. Implied. 



G 



