IBIDEM. This word is used in references, when it is intended to say that a thing is to be found in the same place, or that the reference has for its object the same thing, case, or other matter. IOU, contracts. The memorandum1 IOU, (I owe you), given by merchants to each other, is a mere2 evidence of the debt, and does not amount to a promissory note. Esp. Cas. N. A. 426; 4 Carr. & Payne, 324; 19 Eng. Com. L. Rep. 405; 1 Man. & Gran. 46; 39 E. C. L. R. 346; 1 Campb. 499; 1 Esp. R. 426; 1 Man. Gr. & So. 543; Dowl. & R. N. P. Cas. 8.
ICTUS ORBIS, med. jurisp. A maim3, a bruise4, or swelling5; any hurt without cutting the skin. When the skin is cut, the injury is called a wound. (q. v.) Bract. lib. 2, tr. 2, c. 5 and 24.
2. Ictus is often used by medical authors in the sense of percussus. It is applied6 to the pulsation7 of the arteries8, to any external lesion of the body produced by violence also to the wound inflicted9 by a scorpion10 or venomous reptile11. Orbis is used in the sense of circlo, circuit, rotundity. It is applied also to the eye balls. Oculi dicuntur orbes. Castelli Lexicon12 Medicum.
IDEM SONANS. Sounding the same.
2. In pleadings, when a name which it is material to state, is wrongly spelled, yet if it be idem sonans with that proved, it is sufficient, as Segrave for Seagrave, 2 Str. R. 889; Keen for Keene, Thach. Cr. Cas. 67; Deadema for Diadema, 2 Ired. 346; Hutson for Hudson, 7 Miss. R. 142; Coonrad for Conrad, 8 Miss. R. 291. See 5 Pike, 72; 6 Ala. R. 679; vide also Russ. & Ry. 412; 2 Taunt13. R. 401, In the following cases the variances14 there mentioned were declared to be fatal. Russ. & Ry. 351; 10 East, R. 83; 5 Taunt. R. 14; 1 Baldw. R. 83; 2 Crom. & M. 189; 6 Price, R. 2; 1 Chit. R. 659; 13 E. C. L. R. 194. See, generally, 8 Chit. Pr. 231, 2; 4 T. R. 611; 3 B. & P. 559; 1 Stark15. R. 47; 2 Stark. R. 29; 3 Camp. R. 29; 6 M. & S. 45; 2 N. H. Rep. 557; 7 S. & R. 479; 3 Caines, 219; 1 Wash. C. C. R. 285; 4 Cowen, 148 and the article Name.
IDENTITATE NOMINIS, Engl. law. The name of a writ16 which lies for a person taken upon a capias or exigent and committed to prison, for another man of the same name; this writ directs the sheriff to inquire whether he be the same person against whom the action was brought, and if not, then to discharge him. F. N. B. 267. In practice, a party in this condition would be relieved by habeas corpus.
IDENTITY, evidence. Sameness.
2. It is frequently necessary to identify persons and things. In criminal prosecutions17, and in actions for torts and on contracts, it is required to be proved that the defendants19 have in criminal actions, and for injuries, been guilty of the crime or injury charged; and in an action on a contract, that the defendant18 was a party to it. Sometimes, too, a party who has been absent, and who appears to claim an inheritance, must prove his identity and, not unfrequently, the body of a person which has been found dead must be identified: cases occur when the body is much disfigured, and, at other times, there is nothing left but the skeleton. Cases of considerable difficulty arise, in consequence of the omission21 to take particular notice; 2 Stark. Car. 239 Ryan's Med. Jur. 301; and in consequence of the great resemblance of two persons. 1 Hall's Am. Law Journ. 70; 1 Beck's Med. Jur. 509; 1 Paris, Med. Jur, 222; 3 Id. 143; Trail. Med. Jur. 33; Foder«, Med. Leg. ch. 2, tome 1, p. 78-139.
3. In cases of larceny22, trover, replevin, and the like, the things in dispute must always be identified. Vide 4 Bl. Com. 396.
4. M. Briand, in his Manuel Complet de M«dicine L«gale, 4eme partie, ch. 1, gives rules for the discovery of particular marks, which an individual may have had, and also the true color of the hair, although it may have been artificially colored. He also gives some rules for the purpose of discovering, from the appearance of a skeleton, the sex, the age, and the height of the person when living, which he illustrates24 by various examples. See, generally, 6 C. & P 677; 1 C. & M. 730; 3 Tyr. 806; Shelf. on Mar23. & Div. 226; 1 Hagg. Cons20. R. 189; Best on Pres. Appx. case 4; Wills on Circums. Ev. 143, et seq.