CASE. 279 CASE-HARDENING. CASE (Fr. casse, caisse, Catalan capsa, Poitiij;. caixa, from Lat. capsa, box, from cnjxre, to take). A receptacle for type used in printing, which is divided into compartments or 'boxo-i,' each of which contains type of one character or letter. A pair of cases consists of an upper and a lower case: the upper one contains the capi- tals, small capitals, and some other letters that are only occasionally required: the lower one holdinj; the small letters, figures, spaces, and most of the points. The places assigned to the several letters of the aljihabet in the boxes of the case are not precisely the same in all print- ing-offices, but the dirterences are few. The dif- ferent sizes of the lioxes in the lower case depend upon the comparative frequency with which the several letters occur in com|)osition, and the position in the case allotted to each letter is such as to afVoi-d the greatest facility in com- posing. The letter e, which is most used in the English language, has a bos much larger than m fi SEmrffin sp. 1 Sp. ' k e 1 2 3 T 5 6 7 8 b C - i s t g s 9 &
1 m D b .0 y P w 1 En nits Em mis V n t Spoccs a » ! Quad- 1
ra 'li THE LOWER CASE. any of the other compartments, and is placed directly in front of the compositor. In the upper case the boxes are of uniform size, and the let- ters are placed in alphabetical order, the com- paratively rare occurrence of capitals rendering it immaterial which letter is nearest the com- positor'.s hand. CASE. In law, primarily a cause, that is, an action or suit taken as a whole. The word is used in this general sense in the United Slates Constitution, which extends the judicial power of the United States to "eases in law and equity, cases afl'eeting ambassadors, etc." In a more limited sense, a case is one side of a suit or action, the body of evidence and law presented by one of the i)arties. The word is also used to denote a. decided cause of action already re- corded and cited in argument; thus the phrase case laic is used to designate the species of legal argument founded on the examination and cita- tion of decided cases; hence also the phrase leading cases, meaning cases in which the de- cisions have a wide application and set forth general principles which may govern many sub- sequent decisions. In the United States the term "ease' is often used in brief for case on appeal, meaning the statement laid before a court of appeal by an appellant, presenting the record and the entire evidence of the original trial, or a resume of it. This allows the appel- late court to review the findings of the jury as well as the law points involved, and in this the case differs from the bill of exceptions, which presents only the matters of law to the court of appeal. Case a>ined on, or case stated, is a statement in which parties to a suit unite in laving l)cfore the court the facts of the case upcm which they agree for a decision on the points of law involved. f'asc reserred is a statement drawn by counsel and certified to by the judge, to be used as a basis for argument on law points before a full bench of the court. AcTiOK ox THE Case. A Very important form of action is sometimes called case, in brief for action on the case, or still more fully, action of trespass on the case. This action did not exist at early common law, but was introduced by the Statute of Westminster II., in the reign of Kdward 1. (1280). It was designed to rciiiedy certain defects in the common-law practice which failed to provide an adequate remedy for some classes of injuries 1)y means of the common-law action of trespass. The phrase 'action on the case' is really equivalent to "action on the cir- cumstances,' and this form of suit avails when it is sought to recover damages for personal in- juries not caused by an assault, or where the wrongful act was of such a kind that the injury was indirect or consequential. Actions to re- cover damages for libel or slander, for the con- version of personal property, for negligence, are examples of actions on the case. Assumpsit (q.v.) originated as a form of action on the case, in Great Britain the Judicature Acts have so classified injuries for which danuiges may be sought as in general to make this form of action olisolete; and in the L'nited States the codes of civil procedure adopted in nianV States have generally abolished this and other speci.al forms of action. Consult the authorities referred to under PLE.mNG and Pb.ctice. CASE, Algustus Ludlow (ISL-i-OS,. An . ierican naval officer, born in Newburg, X. Y. ilc! entered the nav^- as midshipman in 1S2S, served in the Mexican ^Var, and upon the out- l)reak of the Civil Var in 1861 was appointed ileet-captain of the Xortb Atlantic blockading squadron. Subsequently he was fleet-captain of the European squadron in 1865-06, was chief of the ordnance bureau from 1869 to 187.3. and in 1874, at the time of the Virpiniiis affair, was placed in command of the fleet which had been assembled at Key West. In 1872 he received the rank of rear-admiral and was retired in 187.5. CASE, TnoMA.s (1598-1682). An English divine, born in Kent. He graduated at Clirist Church, Oxford, became rector of Stockport in 1645. and subsequently rector of Saint Mary Magdalen, London. In 1649 he was removed from his benefice for refusal to pledge loyalty to the new system of government, and in 1651 was imprisoiu'd in the Tower on a charge of high treason in having implicated himself in the Pres- byterian plot for tlic Stuart restoration. In the same year he was released, and sulisequently became rector of Saint (iiles-in-the-Ficlds. He was a member of the deputation of Presljytcrian clergymen sent in 1(160 to congratulate tlic re- stored King, by whom he was appointed a royal chaplain. He was one of the most popular preachers of his day, and wrote several works, of which Mount Pisijah ( 1070; new abridged ed., IS.'SO) is i-^tcciiicd (lie licst. CASE-HARDENING. The process of con- verting the surface of cast or wrought iron arti- cles into steel, thereby making them harder, less Iial)le to rii>t. and capable of taking on a better polish. Fire-irons. ])ortions of tine grate-fronts, gun-locks, and other articles of limited size are
