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usually applicable to persons acting in those capacities; and the principal one of these is, that he will be held to due care and diligence, and to perfect good faith.

Certain consequences flow from the rules and principles already stated which should be noticed. Thus, if the party to whom the offer of sale is made accepts the offer, but still refuses or neglects to pay the price, and there are no circumstances indicating a credit, or otherwise justifying the refusal or neglect, the seller may, as we have said, disregard the acceptance of his offer, and consider the contract as never made, or as rescinded. It would, however, be proper and prudent on the part of the seller expressly to demand payment of the price before he treated the sale as null; and a refusal or neglect would then give him at once a right to hold and treat the goods. as his own. So, too, if the seller unreasonably neglected or refused to deliver the goods sold, and especially if he refused to deliver them, the buyer thereby acquires the right to consider that no sale was made, or that it has been avoided (or annulled). But neither party is bound to exercise the right thus acquired by the refusal or neglect of the other, but may consider the sale as complete; and the seller may sue the buyer for non-payment, or the buyer may sue the seller for non-delivery.

If the seller has merely the right of possession, as if he hired the goods; or if he has the possession only, as if he stole them, or found them, he cannot sell them and give good title to the buyer against the owner; and the owner may therefore recover them even from an honest purchaser who was wholly ignorant of the defect in the title of him from whom he bought them. This follows from the rule above stated, that only he who has in himself a right of property can sell a chattel, because the sale must transfer the right of property from the seller to the buyer. The only exception to the above rule is where money, or negotiable paper transferable by delivery (which is considered as money), is sold or paid away. In either case, he who takes it in good faith, and for value, from a thief or finder, holds it by good title. But if the owner once sold the thing, although he was deceived and induced to part with his property through fraud, he cannot reclaim it from one who in good faith buys it from the fraudulent party.

If anything remains to be done by the seller, to or in relation to the goods sold, for their ascertainment, identification, or completion, the property in the goods does not pass until that thing is done, and there is as yet no completed sale. There fore, if there be a bargain for the sale of specific goods, but there remains something material which the seller is to do to them, and they are casually burnt or stolen, the loss is the sell er's, because the property (or ownership) had not yet passed to the buyer.

So, if the goods are a part of a large quantity, they remain the seller's until selected and separated; and even after that, until recognized and accepted by the buyer, unless it is plain from words or circumstances that the selection and separation hy the buyer are intended to be conclusive upon both parties.

If repairing or measuring or counting must be done by the seller before the goods are fitted for delivery or the price can be determined, or their quantity ascertained, they remain, until this be done, the seller's. And where part is measured and delivered this part passes to the vendee, but the portion not so set apart does not. But if the seller delivers them and the buyer accepts them, and any of these acts remain to be done, these acts will not be considered as belonging to the contract of sale, for that will be regarded as completed, and the owner. ship of the goods will have passed to the buyer, and these acts will be taken only to refer to the adjustment of the final settle. ment as to the price.

Thus, a purchaser offers a nurseryman a dollar apiece for two hundred out of a row of two thousand trees, which are all alike, and the offer is accepted. This is no sale, because any two hundred may be delivered, and therefore the property or owner. ship of any specific two hundred does not pass. But if the purchaser or seller had said the first two hundred in the row, o the last, or every third tree, or otherwise indicated the specific trees, there would have been a sale, and by the sale those specific trees would have become at once the trees of the buyer. The seller would dig up and deliver them as the buyer's trees, and if they were burned up by accident an hour after the sale, and before digging, the buyer would lose the trees. If not specified,

however, even if they were paid for, they remain the property of the nurseryman, because, instead of an actual sale, there is only a bargain that he will select two hundred from the lot, and take up and deliver them. And if they are destroyed before delivery, this is the loss of the nurseryman.

Moreover, it is to be noticed that a contract for a future sale to take place either at a future point of time, or when a certain event happens, does not, when that time arrives, or on the hap pening of the event, become of itself a sale, transferring the property. The party to whom the sale was to be made does not then acquire the property, and cannot by tendering the price acquire a right to possession; but he may tender the price, or whatever else would be the fulfillment of his obligation, and then sue the owner for his breach of contract, if he will not deliver the goods. But the property in the goods remains in the original owner.

For the same reason that the property in the goods must be pass by a sale, there can be no actual sale of any chattel or goods which have no existence at the time. It may, as we have seen, be a good contract for a future sale, but it is not a present sale. Thus, in contracts for the sale of articles yet to be manufactured, the subject of the contract not being in existence when the parties enter into their engagement, no property passes until the chattel is in a finished state, and has been specially appropriated to the person giving the order, and approved and accepted by him.

As there can be no sale unless of a specific thing, so there is no sale but for a price which is certain, or which is capable of being made certain by a distinct reference to a certain standard.

SECTION II.

DELIVERY AND ITS INCIDENTS.

WHEN a sale is effected, the buyer has an immediate right to the possession of the goods, as soon as he pays or tenders the price; or at once, without payment, if the sale be on credit. And the seller is bound to deliver the goods.

What is sufficient delivery is sometimes a question of

difficulty. In general, it is sufficient, if the goods are placed in the buyer's hands or his actual possession, or if that is done which is the equivalent of this transfer of possession. Some modes and instances of delivery we have already seen. We add, that if the goods are landed on a wharf alongside of the ship which brings them, with notice to the buyer, or knowledge on his part, this may be a sufficient delivery, if usage, or the obvious nature of the case, make it equivalent to actually giving possession. And usage is of the utmost importance in determining questions of this kind.

In general, the rule may be said to be, that that is a sufficient delivery which puts the goods within the actual reach or power of the buyer, with immediate notice to him, so that there is nothing to prevent him from taking actual possession.

When, from the nature or situation of the goods, an actual delivery is difficult or impossible, as in case of a quantity of timber floating in a boom, slight acts, as touching the timber, or even going near it and pointing it out, are sufficient to contitute a delivery, if they sufficiently indicate the transfer of possession. So if the property which is the subject of the sale is at sea, the indorsement and delivery of the bill of lading, or other instrument of title, is sufficient to constitute a delivery, and by such indorsement and delivery of the bill of lading the property in the goods immediately vests in the buyer; and he can transfer this to one who buys of him, by his own indorsement and delivery of the bill of lading. Where goods at sea are sold, the seller should send or deliver the bill of lading to the buyer within a reasonable time, that he may have the means of offering the goods in the market. And it has been held that a refusal of the bill of lading authorized the buyer to rescind the sale.

Until delivery, the seller is bound to keep the goods with ordinary care, and is liable for any loss or injury arising from the want of such care or of good faith. But if he exercises ordinary care and diligence in keeping the commodity, he is not liable for any loss or depreciation of it, unless this arises from some defect which he has warranted not to exist. Thus, in a case in New York, A sold to B a certain quantity of beef, B

paying the purchase-money in full; and it was agreed between them that the beef should remain in the custody of A until it should be sent to another place. Some time after, B received a part, which proved to be bad, and the whole was found, on inspection, to be unmerchantable. The court held that, as the beef was good at the time of its sale, the vendee (or buyer) must bear the loss of its subsequent deterioration.

If the buyer lives at a distance from the seller, the seller must send the goods in the manner indicated by the buyer. If no directions are given, he must send them in such a way as usage, or in the absence of usage, as reasonable care would require. And generally all customary and proper precautions should be taken to prevent loss or injury in the transit. If these are taken, the goods are sent at the risk of the buyer, and the seller is not responsible for any loss. But he is responsible for any loss or injury happening through the want of such care or precaution. And if he sends them by his own servant, or carries them himself, they are in his custody, and, generally, at his risk, until delivery. But if the buyer distinctly indicates the way or means by which he wishes that the goods should be sent to him, as by such a carrier, or such a line, if the seller complies with his directions, and exercises ordinary care over the goods until they are delivered to the person or line so pointed out, his responsibility ends with this delivery, in the same manner as it would if he delivered the goods into the hands of the owner.

This question of delivery has a very great importance in another point of view; and that is, as it bears upon the honesty, and therefore the validity, of the transaction. As the owner of goods ought to have them in his possession, and as a transfer of possession usually does, and always should, accompany a sale, the want of this transfer is an indication, more or less strong, that the sale is not a real one, but a mere cover. The prevailing rule may be stated thus: Delivery is not essential to a sale at common law; but if there is no delivery, and a third party, without knowledge of the previous sale, purchases the same thing from the seller, he gains an equally valid title with the first buyer; and if he completes this title by acquiring posses

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