carries on a trade separate to the trade of her husband, she can be made a bankrupt. Assuming that a husband allows his wife to carry on a business for her own separate use and benefit, it becomes her separate property as between him and her-not between the creditors, but between him and her and makes the property her own separate estate, and therefore the stock-in-trade and capital are also part of the wife's separate estate. The fact that the business was one which the married woman had prior to marriage, or one which she had established after their marriage, with the consent of her husband, is quite immaterial, and she can sue and be sued, in all respects as if she were a single woman, but only to the extent of her separate estate " without restraint on anticipation". A married woman's liability on a contract of sale rests on the question whether she had separate property with regard to which she could reasonably be deemed to have contracted, and the person suing her must prove that she had separate estate at the time the goods were purchased. Moreover, where the husband allows his wife to pledge his credit, he is bound by her acts, as she is agent for him, but the wife's implied authority to pledge her husband's credit is now restricted to "necessaries".

A lunatic must be shown to be quite incompetent, at the time of contracting, to understand what he was doing. However, he is liable for necessaries. Drunkenness is an excuse for non-payment for goods supplied, when it can be shown that at the time they were ordered the person giving the order

was so drunk that he did not appreciate what he was doing. A drunken person is liable for necessaries ordered when drunk.

In reference to infants, it is provided by Section I of the Infants Relief Act, 1874, that "all contracts . . . for goods supplied, other than contracts for necessaries, and all accounts stated with infants shall be absolutely void". If necessaries are supplied to an infant child without his father's authority the latter is not liable, nor is the mother, notwithstanding the fact that she has separate estate. The master of a ship is also liable for necessaries supplied to the ship.

Formalities of the Contract.-Subject to the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893, and of any statute in that behalf, a contract of sale may be made in writing (either with or without seal), or by word of mouth, or partly in writing and partly by word of mouth, or may be implied from the conduct of the parties, but nothing shall affect the law relating to Corporations who can only contract under seal, saving in transactions of minor importance or of urgent necessity.

A written offer to sell goods may be accepted by word of mouth, or vice versâ.

In forming a contract for the sale of goods there must (as has been pointed out above), be two parties who must mutually agree, the one to sell and the other to buy the same thing for a price. A proposal can be withdrawn at any time before acceptance, and an acceptance of the offer must not vary in the slightest degree. Where a person makes an

offer to another person, and it is understood between them that the offer is to be kept open for a specified time; unless some valuable consideration is given, such an offer, under these circumstances will not be binding, and he will be entitled to withdraw his offer as soon as he thinks fit; but in order to make an offer binding, that is to say, in order to make a promise binding, the one who promises must at the time receive some benefit, or avoid some damage in consideration of the promise.

A contract for the sale of any goods of the value of £10 or upwards will not be enforceable by action unless the buyer accepts part of the goods so sold, and shall actually receive the same, or gives something in earnest to bind the contract, or in part payment, or unless some note or memorandum in writing of the contract be made and signed by the party to be charged, or his agent, in that behalf, and this applies to every such contract, notwithstanding that the goods may be intended to be delivered at some future time, or may not at the time of such contract be actually made, procured, or provided, or fit or ready for delivery, or some act may be requisite for the making or completing of it, or rendering the same fit for delivery. There is an acceptance of goods within the meaning of sub-section (3) of Section 4 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893, when the buyer does any act in relation to the goods which recognises a pre-existing contract of sale whether there be an acceptance in performance of the contract

or not.

But the provisions of Section 4 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893, do not apply to Scotland.

If A agrees with B verbally to purchase certain cabinets, and says, "of course you know I overpaid you £1 on that previous transaction between us, and it is now agreed upon to consider it part payment of the present transaction"; and B replies "yes" this does not constitute part payment— within sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893. However, if B agrees verbally to purchase, by sample, so many tons of hay, to be delivered at B's wharf, where he inspects and samples it, but rejects it on account of its not being in his opinion equal to the original sample, this will constitute a sufficient acceptance within the meaning of the sub-section of the statute just mentioned.

A person will be entitled to refuse to complete the contract for the sale of goods, when there has been a mistake on the part of one or both of the parties in reference to the subject matter of the contract, or the price, and when there has been a mistake with regard to the identity of one of the parties, and the identity constitutes an essential element, and has induced the other party to assent to the sale. This is so, even when the contract has been completed.

Fraud, of course, will always be a complete answer to the refusal to complete such a contract, and where the contract has been completed it may be rescinded on this ground. But the fraud must

be proved

The maxim of the English law is, fraus omnia vitiat (fraud vitiates all things).

In order for a sale to be a valid sale the thing or things sold must be in existence. However, there may be an agreement to sell (see p. 4) a thing which is not yet in existence, or to which something remains to be done. (See next paragraph.)