Sun Insurance Office v. Western Woolen-mill Co.

Citations

• 72 Kan. 41
• 82 P. 513
• 1905 Kan. LEXIS 306

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Evidence — Ultimate Fact — Conclusion of the Witness —■ Error Cured. It is error to permit a witness to testify to the ultimate fact to be determined by the jury, or to give his opinion in answer to an inquiry embracing the whole merits of the case; but where, upon further examination, he relates in detail the facts and circumstances upon which his opinion or statement is based the error may become immaterial.</p> <p>2. -Fire-insurance — Expert Testimony. Wool merchants and manufacturers who have had years of experience in their business are competent to give opinions 'based upon facts falling within their experience, such as the effect of water on a large mass of wool and the probability of spontaneous combustion in it.</p> <p>3. - Matters of Common Knowledge. In an action on a . fire-insurance policy, where the sole question is whether spontaneous combustion occurred, it is not error to refuse to permit an expert chemist to define “fire,’-’ “ignition,” “ignition point,” the relation between “fire” and “flame,” and kindred terms, of which the meaning is commonly understood by all well-informed persons.</p> <p>4. Practice, District Court — Scientific Theories — Question for the Jury. Where scientific works of well-known authority and the opinions of experts are widely at variance upon the question whether spontaneous combustion is possible in a certain substance, courts will not assume, as a matter of law and fact, which theory is true, but will leave its determination to the jury.</p> <p>5. - Judicial Notice. Courts will take judicial notice of the meaning of English words, and of such matters of general knowledge, science or natural history as are, or may be, known by men of ordinary understanding and intelligence. “Judicial notice takes the place of proof, and is of equal force.”</p> <p>6. -Instructions. In the case at bar it was not error to refuse to give an instruction that “wool cannot set fire to itself,” nor to define “fi