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* NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS. 337 NEGRITOS. I gets no betti'i- tillf to llie yooils which they i~jiiil)oii/e than he woiiUl secure by the actual lU'liveiy of llie goods Ihenisclves. Hence the thief or tile tiiuler of a bill of lailiug cannot pass a perfect title to a bona tide purchaser thereof, as he can do in case of a bill of exchange or promis- sory note, which is payable to bearer or indorsed in blank. The right to enforce negotiable paper free from defenses available against the transferrer or prior parties is confined to the bona fide liolder, that is, to one who has become the owner of the paper before it is due, for value, and with- out notice of any defect in the transferrer's title. Such a holder, however, can pass his perfect title even after the paper is due, and to one who has notice of defects in the title of one back of such holder. 'the law of negotiable instruments has been codified in Great Britain (Bills of Exchange Act, 1882. 45 and 40 Vict., c. 61) and in a number of our jurisdictions (Colorado, Connecticut. District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsyl- vania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Washing- ton, Wisconsin). Consult: Chalmers, Bills of Kxchanyc Act (London, 1902) : Crawford, The yeyotiubJc Inslrnmcnts Law, Annotated (New York, 1902) ; Daniels, Treatise on the Laic of yefiotiahli' Instruments (New York, 1903) ; Bige- low, The Lairs of Billsi, Xotes, and Cheques (Boston, 1900). NEGOTIABLE PAPER. In its strict legal sense, this term is used interchangeably with the term 'negotiable instruments." to denote any writ- ten securities for the payment of money, the legal and equitable title to which may be transferred by indorsement and delivery, or if payable to bearer, by delivery merely, and which if so trans- ferred before maturity give the transferee com- plete title, and an absolute right to demand the amount named on the face thereof, free from any defenses which might have been available against the transferrer. However, the terra is jiopularly employed to designate such instruments in writ- ing, as promissory notes and bills of exchange, which alone had the above qualities by the 'law merchant,' or common law. and as distinguished from the term 'negotialde instruments,' which, in some jurisdictions, include municipal and corpo- rate bonds, certificates of deposit, warehouse re- ceipts, bills of lading, and other instruments. Therefore, the popular usage would exclude any instrument which was not negotiable by the com- mon law, and which has only been given the pccu-. liar qualities of negotiability by statute. Con- sult Story. The Laiv of Bills of Exchanrre : Par- sons, TIic Law of Promissory Notes and Bills of Exchange. See Negotiable Instruments. NEGRI, n.Vgre. Ada (1870—). An Italian poet, born at Lodi of a family of artisans. As a teacher in a village school, she w'rote her first verses, which passed almost unnoticed in the col- umns of a periodical, but they attraeteil attention to her when published as the volume of lyrics en- titled Fatalita ( 1893 ). A second volume, the Tem- peste, appeared in 1890. Soon after the publica- tion of the Fatalita she received a good post in the normal school at Jlilan. In Ada Negri's verse the note of protest against the abuses in the social order rings out loudly. She has noble ideals as to universal brotherhood, and depicts in vivid colors the abject misery of those engaged in a constant struggle to gain tiie means of a livelihood. Spontaneousness and sincerity aro undeniable qualities of her verse, but she may be said to idealize too much the figure of the peas- ant and artisan. Consult: .lean Dornis, La poesie ilalienne contemporaine (Paris, 1898) ; Mazzoni, in the Xnora antoloyia (Rome, June 17, 1893), NEGRI, Cristoforo (1809-90). Aii Italian politician, historian, and geographer, born at Milan. He became professor at Padua in 1843, was the first member of the faculty to side with the Italian cause in 1848, and after Custozza and the success of Austria he was forced to resign his chair. He was almost immediately elected president of the University of Turin, and held a Iilacc in Gioberti's Ministry until the battle of Novara. He then became chief of the consular service and held this position under Azeglio. Rat- tazzi, and Cavour. Negri foiuuled in 1807 the Italian Geographical Society, and was its presi- dent for five years. He wrote: La yrandrx~a italiana (1804) ; La storia politica dell' antichitd parayonata alia moderna (1807) ; and / passati riayqi antartici c I'ideata spcdizione italiana (IS'SO). NEGRI, Paolo (1853—). An Italian gj^ne- cologist. He was born in 'erona, studied medi- cine at Padua, and, after teaching at Milan and at Novara, where he became director of the Obstetrical School, in 1886, was appointed di- rector of the School of Obstetrics of the Univer- sity of Padua, situated at Venice. He wrote: Siiidii e riccrche di ostetricia ( 1885) : Sulla idro- cefalia ripetuta del feto (1890) ; and Cinquanta laparotomie ( 1892 ). NEGRITOS, na-gre'toz (Sp., little negro). The term applied by most modern ethnologists to one of the great ethnic groups into which the pop- ulation of the East Indies is divided. Some an- thropologists recognize a "Negritic stock' consist- ing of three groups. Negrito, Papuan, and Melane- sian, while others regard the 'Indo-Oceanic Negri- tos' as a separate branch of the Homo .Etliiopicus, distinct from the'Indo-Oceanic Negros' from whom they believe that the Papuans and Melanesians have sprinig. It seems best, however, to count the Malays, Indonesians, Negritos, and Papuans as the four etiinic stocks of Jlalaysia. The term should be used in the restricted sense implied in the principal recent classifications of mankind in this area. The physical characteristics of the Negritos are: Small .stature (great majority under five feet), a brachycephalic or subbrachy- cephalic head-form, a dark browni or black skin sometimes somewhat yellowish, the hair woolly (scanty on face and body), a flat nose, thickish lips, and other features of pliysiognomy and body of a negroid character, ilany ethnologists as- sume that the earliest inhabitants of extreme Southeastern Asia, the Malay Archipelago, and neighboring regions were of this stock, but evi- dence for such a view is lacking. No real proof of their presence in Sumatra, .Java, Borneo, Celebes, or Formosa has been produced. It is held by some, however, that the Negritos once inhabited Timor, Florcs, and the islands near, while it has been reported that the Karons of the Arfak Hills in Northwestern New Guinea were Negritos, although this is not certain. The only