Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/137

* PLAYFAIR. 109 PLEADING. Switzerland, and Italy, for the purpose of study- iiifi the geological and mineralogical features of these countries. From 1804 onward he was a frequent contributor to the Edinburgh Review. Among the subjects reviewed are "Jludge's Trigo- nometrical Survey" (1805); "Mechain and De- lambre. Base du syst&me metrique decimale" (1808); "Le Compte rendu par I'lnstitut de France" (1809^; "Lanibton's Indian Survey" (181.3); "Laplace. Essai philosophique sur les probabilites" (1814); "Baron de Zach, Attrac- tion des montagnes" (181G); "Kater on the Pendulum" (1818). All of these were reprinted in the fourth volume of the collected edition of liis works, edited bj' .James G. Playfair (4 vols., 1822). He also contributed several articles to the Encycloj/CFdia Biitannica. For the Transac- tions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh he wrote among other memoirs ; "On the Origin and Inves- tigations of Porisms" (1794) ; "On the Trigonom- etry of the Brahmins" (1798). He also edited Euclid's Elements (1795), and wrote Outlines of Xatiiral Philosophy (2 vols., 1812-16), and Illiistrntions of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth. PLAYFAIR, Ltox, first Baron Playfair (1818-98). A British .scientist and statesman, born at Chunar. in Bengal. He was educated at Saint -Andrews and at Glasgow, where he took a course in chemistry. After studying under the celelirated German chemist Liebig. he was in 1843 appointed honorary professor of chemistry at the JIanchester Royal Institution. In 1858 he was appointed to the chair of chemistry in Edinburgh f niversity. In 1868 he was returned to Parlia- ment as a Liberal from the Scotch universities, and in 1873 he was appointed postmaster-general and became a privy councilor. In 1892 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Playfair of Saint Andrews, and was appointed a lord-in-waiting. He wrote Science in Its Relation to Labor (1833); On Primary and Technical Education (1870) : and Science in Relation to the Public ^yeal (1885). PLAYGROUND, Public. See Pabks and PLAViaioi xiis, PLAYING CARDS. See Cabds. PLAYS. See Drama. PLEA (OF. plait, plaid, play, Fr. plaid, from Lat. placitum. decree, suit, plea, opinion, from placere, to please). In common-law pleading, the defendant's answer or defense, consisting either of a denial of the facts alleged in the declaration, or a confession that they are true and a statement of new facts by which their legal effect is avoided, or of facts tending to defeat the action itself. A plea is distinguished from a demurrer in that the latter admits the facts al- leged in the declaration, but denies their .suffi- ciency in law to constitute a cause of action ; whereas a plea raises only a question of fact in the manner indicated in the above definition. Pleas are usually classed as 'peremptorj'' and 'dilatory,' according to their purposes and nature. A peremptory plea is one which brings in issue the merits of^the controversy, either by denying absolutely the facts alleged in the declaration, wlien it is known as a 'plea in bar.' or by confess- ing that the facts alleged by the plaintiff are true, and setting forth new facts, which, if true, will defeat the alleged cause of action. The latter is known as a plea in confession and avoidance. A dilatory plea is one which attacks the action it- self because of some defect in pleading or prac- tice, and therefore does not involve the merits. See XoxsuiT. In criminal cases only pleas of 'guilty' or 'not guilty' are allowed. In equity pleading a special answer of the defendant att'acKing the jiarticu- lar action is also called a plea. It ditTers from a demurrer in equity in that it attacks .something not apparent on the face of the bill, and it does not put in issue the merits of the action. In England, where common-law pleading has been abolished, the Judicature Acts (q.v.) pro- vide that the defendant's answer shall lie known as the 'statement of defense,' and this is analo- gous to a plea. The term 'Pleas of the Crown' was formerly used to designate criminal prosecu- tions in the name of the sovereign. In the United States wherever code pleading prevails the term plea is no longer employed, a defense of fact being presented by an answer. However, the divisions of pleas are often referred to by courts and attor- neys as descriptive of the nature of a defense set forth by an answer. See Pleading. PLEADING (from plead, from OF.. Fr. plaid- cr, from OF. plait, plaid, play, Fr. plaid, plea). As a generic term, the written allegation of facts upon which a party to any legal proceeding founds his claim or demand or his answer or de- fense thereto. Used in a broader sense, the term signifies the system of legal rules and principles applicable to the written pleadings in a legal pro- ceeding. Pleading is only one of the .successive steps in a proceeding at law by which one partj' asserts or enforces his rights against another, all to- gether being comprehended by the term procedure (q.v.). Originally the pleadings in an action at common law were oral, as is evidenced by many peculiarities of the common-law procedure of a later date; but as early as the reign of Edward III. we find that the pleadings were in writing and usually in Latin. Pleading at law, however, ultimatel.v devel- oped into a system of highly technical and formal rules requiring the greatest precision in their application, and often by their very formality and rigidity defeating rather than aiding justice. Although remedial statutes were passed as early as the reign of Elizabeth, no attempt at a gen- eral reformation of the svstem was made until 4 William IV.. c. 42, in 1834. At a later date in the United States various forms of statutory or code pleadings were adopted. The principles upon which any system of plead- ing arc necessarily based will, perhaps, be best understood by referring briefly to the more essential elements of the common-law system. The primary object of the pleadings in an ac- tion at common law was to raise a single issue or dispute upon either a point of law or of fact. In the former ease a question was raised for de- cision by the court, usually after argument upon the question of law involved and submission of briefs by opposing counsel. In the latter, a ques- tion was raised for decision by the jury after hearing evidence tending on the one side to prove and on the other to disprove the fact in dispute. . d upon the decision of the coiirt or a verdict of the jury final judgment was entered determin- ing the rights of the parties to the controversy. The first step toward accomplishing the object