/1/
In these cases, as in that of ferocious animals, it is no excuse
that the defendant did not know, and could not have found out,
the weak point from which the dangerous object escaped. The
period of choice was further back, and, although he was not to
blame, he was bound at his peril to know that the object was a
continual threat to his neighbors, and that is enough to throw
the risk of the business on him.
I now pass to cases one degree more complex than those so far
considered. In these there must be another concomitant
circumstance known to the party in addition to those of which the
knowledge is necessarily or practically proved by his conduct.
The cases which naturally suggest themselves again concern
animals. Experience as interpreted by the English law has shown
that dogs, rams, and bulls are in general of a tame and mild
nature, and that, if any one of them does by chance exhibit a
tendency to bite, butt, or gore, it is an exceptional phenomenon.
Hence it is not the law that a man keeps dogs, rams, bulls, and
other like tame animals at his peril as to the personal damages
which they may inflict, unless he knows or has notice that the
particular animal kept by him has the abnormal tendency which
they do sometimes show.
Pages:
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210