Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/411

* CONTRACT. 351 CONTRAST. required by law and the required form has not been observed. It is therefore maintained by many ■writers that the Konian category of real contracts has disappeared, and that there are now but two classes, the formal and the consensual. The formal contracts of the modern codes are not Roman. Where a form is prescribed, it is usually a written document, and in many eases attesta- tion by a notary is necessaiy to its validity. BiBLiOGKAPiiY. For special branches consult the authorities referred to under the titles treating of those subjects, as Real Property; Sale; Mortgage, etc. Also consult: Parsons, Laic of Contracts (8th ed., Boston, 1893) ; Anson, Prin- ciples of tlic Law of Contract (7th ed., Oxford, 1893; 2d American ed., Chicago, 1887): Chitty, Treatise on the Law of Contracts (13th ed., Lon- don, 189G) ; Addison, Treatise on the Laip of Contracts (7th ed., London, 1893); Marriman, Elements of Contracts (2d ed., Boston, 1901); Hollingsworth, The Law of Contracts (1896); and the authorities referred to under such special titles as Quasi Contr.ct; Xegotlvble Instru- ments ; Sale, etc. CONTRACTION (Lat. contract io, from coji- trahere, to draw up). The wish or necessity for economizing labor and parchment led the scribes of the ilidtlle Ages to use a great many abbrevia- tions or contractions in their manuscripts. These contractions were transjjlanted into the first printed books; and more recently they have been repi-oduced in many works, where it was thought desirable that the modern print should represent as nearly as possible all the peculiarities of the ancient manuscript. -V knowledge of contrac- tion, therefore, is indispensable, not only to readers of old A^ritings, but to readers of the printed books of the fifteenth, the si.xteenth, and the earlier jjart of the seventeenth centuries, and to all who desire to avail themselves of the vast stores of historical and archajological materials accumulated in the rolls and records published by the governments of Great Britain, France, and other counlries. This subject is treated in detail under Paleography. Contraction may be divided into six classes: (1) contraction, properly so called: (2) con- traction by elision or suspension; (3) contrac- tion by writing a smaller letter above the word contracted; (4) contraction by running two or more lettei's into one character; (5) contraction by symbols representing syllables or words; (6) contraction by initial letters. CONTRACT SURGEON. In the United States Army, a civilian physician or dental surgeon, employed under contract with the Sur- geon-General of the army. Civilian physicians and dentists may be employed as contract sur- geons and contract dental surgeons under con- tracts entered into by, or with .the authority of, the Surgeon-General of the army. They are entitled to the transportation and fuel allow- ances of first lieutenants, and when on duty at a post or station where there are quarters be- longing to the L'nited States, they receive the quarters in kind allowed by regulations to an assistant surgeon of the rank of first lieutenant; they are not entitled to commutation of quarters, nor to the ten per centum increase of pay when serving beyond the territorial limits of the United States. They are entitled to the same olRcial obedience from enlisted men as regularly commissioned officers, and may be detailed on councils of administration and boards of sur- vey, act as post treasurer, etc, and witness pay- ments to enlisted men under the provisions of ]);iragraph 1.102 to l.')27 of the llegulatioiis, hut may not be detailed for duty on courts-martial. Generally expressed, the contract surgeon's eligi- bility for dutj' is the same as that of an assistant surgeon, excejjt in so far as it is limited by the fact that he is not a commissioned officer. Can- didates for appointment as dental surgeons nuist be not less than twenty-four, nor more than forty years of age, and nnist be graduates of standard medical or dental colleges, trained in llie several branches of dentistry, of good moral character, and, prior to ajjpointment, will be required to jjass a satisfactory professional ex- amination before a board of dental surgeons, convened for that purpose. Contracts with den- tal surgeons are made for three years, but may be annulled, for cause, at any time. They are attached to the medical department, and are assigned to duty in accordance with the reconi- ]uendations of the Surgeon-General 'of the army, or the chief surgeon of a military department. A dental surgeon is allowed, as an assistant, one enlisted man from the Hospital Corjjs, and must operate between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. upon soldiei's entitled thereto only. Before and after these hours, he is free to pursue his private practice. The United States is the only countiy in the world employing army dental surgeons. For detailed information as to the duties, j'rivileges, etc., of contract surgeons, consult Army Regula- tions M'ar Deiiartinent (Washington, 1901). See Surgeon, Military. CON'TRA-FAGOT'TO (It., counter-bassoon). The name in orchestral scores for the double bassoon. See B.vssooN. CONTRAL'TO, See Alto. CONTRARY MOTION. See Motion, in Music. CONTRAST (Fr. contraste, from ^VIL. con- trastarc, to withstand, from Lat. contra, against -f- stare, to stand). The enhancement of the dif- ference lietween objects or attributes of olijects which results from their juxtaposition or im- mediate comparison. Contrast has been em- ployed, very loosely, as a principle of explanation in psychology; and we caiuiot even now say that the whole field of 'contrast phenomena' has been adequately explored. It is, clearly, no explana- tion of a given fact to refer it to a general law of contrast, any more than it is an explanation of a mental connection to refer it to the 'associa- tion of ideas.' We must know, in each particu- lar case, the conditions imder which the fact is determined and the connection takes shape. ( 1 ) One chapter of the psychophysics of con- trast may, however, be considered closed. This is the chapter that deals with the contrast of brightness and colors. If we lay two black strips upon a gray ground, and then push a white cardboard under one of them, so that the white projects on either side, we see at once that the black on white is blacker than the (same) black on gray. If we lay a gray disk upon a red ground of the same brightness, and stand so far away that the contour of the disk is eliminated, we see a bluish-green in place of the gray disk; and the color is most intensive