Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/713

* ULTRA VIRES. 619 ULYSSES. case of negotiable paper issued iillra inres by a corporation, it is everywhere held that ultra vires is a personal and not a real defense (see Negotiable In.stki'MEXTs), and cannot be set lip against a bona fide purchaser for value, al- though it may be a valid defense against the original taker or holder of the paper. In de- termining what contracts are ultra vires, the courts have applied liberal rules of interpreta- tion, holding not only that contracts expressly authorized were within the powers of the cor- poration, but that it has all the power to con- tract which can fairly be implied from the language of its charter and from the character of the business which it is authorized to con- duct. ToKTS AND Crime. Strictly all torts com- mitted by the agents of a corporation while act- ing for the corporation are ultra vires, since a corporation has no express or implied authority to commit tortious acts. Following this course of reasoning, the early tendency of the courts was to hold that corporations could not be held legally responsible for torts. Governed, how- ever, by considerations of policy, tlc courts liold that corporations are liable for all torts of their agents and employees committed liy them within the scope of their authority. When malice is an essential element in the tort^ the malice of the agent is imputed to the corporate principal. Up- on similar principles corporations have general- ly been held responsible for minor criminal offenses, and in many States there are now spe- cial statutes governing the criminal responsi- bility of corporations. See Law, Criminal. Courts of equity will take jurisdiction to re- strain ullro-rires acts at the suit of a stock- holder upon his showing that the directors or trustees of the corporation refuse to act. There is also .statutory authority in some States for proceedings brought in behalf of the State by the Attorney-General to restrain ultra-vires acts when they are working a public injury, and at common law the State may proceed on the rela- tion of a private individual to compel forfeiture of the charter of a corporation i>y quo tcar- ranto (q.v.) on the ground that the corporation is committing ultra-vires acts under such cir- cumstances as to amount to a departure from the business or purposes for which it was organ- ized. Consult the authorities referred to under Corporation; Criminal Law; Equity; Quasi Contract. ULUA, nn-loo'a, WOOLWA, or Sumo. A group of tril)es including the Sumo ]n-oper, the Cookra. the Poya, and others, constituting a dis- tinct linguistic stock, occupying the headwaters of the streams which empty along the east coast of Nicaragua. They call themselves .S'»mo, the other names having proliably been bestowed by their enemies, the ilosquito (q.v.). In physique they are below middle stature, of light brown complexion and handsome features, with chests and arms strongly developed. They live in huts consisting of palm-leaf roofs raised u])on posts and sutlicient to accommodate four families. The women wear only a short skirt of bark iibre, and both sexes are much given to painting. They also flatten the head. They plant fields of corn, cacao, sugar-cane, and chile, and the women are potters, while the men are especially expert Vol. XIX.^. boatmen and lumberers. Polygamy is common, and girls are frequently lietrothed almost in in- fancy. Boys are subjected to various ordeals on arriving at manhood. Their principal ceremonial is a festival lasting several days and nights, during which they drink large quantities of tnishlu, a liquor jirejiared from the manioc root. Their dead are buried under sheds, and they have the curious custom of unwinding a long thread from the former owner's house to the grave, sometimes even for miles tliroiigh the forest or across i'i'ers. ULUGH-BEG, on'lng-bcg' (1304-1449). A Persian prince and astronomer, the grandson of Tiniur (q.v.). He succeeded, in 1447, to the Imperial throne of Samarkand on his father's death. He was a successful warrior, but hap- pening to conceive suspicions of the loyalty of his eldest son. that prince rebelled, defeated and captured liis father, and soon after caused him to be put to death. Llugh-Beg was the founder of the observatory at Samarkand, as a patron of astronomers and himself a diligent observer. His most impor- tant contrilnition to astronomical science is hi3 star-catalogue, the first original one since that made by Ptolemy. The astronomical works of Ulugh-Beg were written in Arabic^ afterwards translated into Persian, and thence the chrono- logical portion of them into Latin by Greaves (London, IGoO), and the geographical part (U!.52). An independent version in Latin and Persian was published liy Hyde (Oxford, 1(565). The latest edition of the star-catalogue was edited by Baily in 184.3, and published in vol- ume xiii. of the Memoirs of the Eoijal Astro- iiomieal Societi/ (Lc"don, 1843). UL'VERSTON. A seaport in Lancashire, England, 22 miles northwest of Lancaster (Map: England, C 2). Its parish church dates from 1111. It stands in an extensive agricultural and mining district, and has manufactures of cotton goods, iron, boilers, linen, paper, ropes, boots, and woolen yarn. Population, in 1901, 10,064. ULYS'SES (Lat. Uli/sses. Ulixes. Olixes, Athen., Bu'ot., Corinth. Gk. 'OAufffffuc, Olysseus, 'O/tiTTfiJf, Oh/tteus, general Gk. 'Odvaaeif, Odys- seus, probably of Illyrian origin, influenced by popular connection with rx'ivnaeaBai, odyssesthai, to be hated). A legendary Greek hero. Accord- ing to the oldest legend, the Homeric., he was the son of Laertes. Prince of Ithaca, and of Anticleia, daughter of Autolycus. According to a later account, his father was the crafty Si.syphus; whence he is sometimes called, by way of reproach, Sisyphides. He married Penelope (q.v.), by whom he became the father of Telemachus. When the expedition against Troy was resolved on. Agamemnon and Menelaus prevailed on Ulysses, though with difficulty, to take part in it. Later traditions represent him as feigning madness — an artifice which failed through the skill of Palamedes. Once enlisted. Ulysses devoted liimself to the success of the ex- pedition; with Nestor's aid he secured the help of Achilles, and with Jlenelaus he undertook a fruitless embassy to Troy to demand the return of Helen and her treasures. When the Greek fleet assembled at .iilis. Ulysses brought twelve ships. In the narrative of the Iliad Ulysses plays an important part. In prudence and in-