Although the branch of law now treated under the designation of torts is one of the earliest to appear in any legal system, the name itself has only come into general use during the past half century.

It is very difficult to give any definition of tort which is both correct and concise. The reason for this lies largely in the great variety of wrongs which are included under this general title. The field of the law of torts is very broad, overlapping the field of criminal law on the one side, and that of contracts on the other.

"The term 'tort' being indefinable because of its generality, it follows that such definitions of tort as commend themselves at first glance, will, upon examination turn out to be spurious. The following proposition, for instance, is a terse and accurate statement of a certain legal truth, and at first blush it may appear to be a logical definition. A tort, we may say, is that legal wrong, or breach of duty, which is capable of being redressed in a civil action for damages. But this proposition states no criterion for distinguishing between a breach of contract and a tort, and in fact merely amounts to this, that a tort is a legal wrong for which damages may be recovered. This statement is true enough, but it is no definition."1

One of the best definitions of this term which has yet been given is that by Mr. Justice Holmes, of the United States Supreme Court: "I think that the law regards the infliction of temporal damage by a responsible person as actionable, if under the circumstances known to him the danger of his act is manifest according to common experience, or according to his own experience if it is more than common, except on cases where upon special grounds of policy the law refuses to protect the plaintiff or grants a privilege to the defendant." 2

1 Street's Foundation of Legal Liability, Vol. I, p. XXVII.

Other definitions which have been given are as follows: "A tort is an act or omission giving rise, in virtue of the Common law jurisdiction of the Court, to a civil remedy which is not an action of contract." 3

"A tort may be said to be a breach of duty fixed by municipal law for which a suit for damages can be maintained." 4

"The word 'torts' is used to describe that branch of the law which treats of the redress of injuries which are neither crimes nor arise from the breach of contracts. All acts or omissions of which the law takes cognizance may in general be classed under the three heads of contracts, torts and crimes. Contracts include agreements, and the injuries resulting from their breach; torts include injuries to individuals; and crimes, injuries to the public or state."5

Adding another to this list of definitions; a tort is a violation of those general rights which are secured to the individual by the laws as against all other members of the community, as contradistinguished from those special rights, which arise out of contracts, and only exist against the other parties to said contracts.

* 10 Harvard Law Review, 471.

* Pollock on Torts, p. 4.

4 Bigelow on Torts, p. 3. * Bouvier Law Dictionary