CODE. 108 CODEX. ami even if the St.ite codes were uniform at the outset, it would be impossible to keep theni >iui- fonn. Coditication in the United States aeeord- ingly means the deliberate creation of a diversity of laws similar to that which has made national coditication necessary in Europe. An ojiposite movement, toward uniformity, is represented in tile United States by the Negotiable Instru- ments Act, drafted in 1890 by commissioners from the several States and already enacted in a considerable numlje'r of States and Territories. Bibliography. Bentham's works, especially liis Vieiv of a Complete Code of Law (Edin- burgh, 1843) ; Savigny, The Vocation of Our Age for Legislation and Jurisprudence (1814; trans, by Hayward, London, 1831); Field, Speeches, Argnmciits, and Miscellaneous Papers (New York, 1884-90); Carter, Proposed Codifi- cation of Our Conunon Laic (Xew York, 1884) ; Provinces of the Written and Unwritten Law (New York, 1889); Dillon, Our Legal Chaos (New York) ; F. J. Stimson and Munroe Smith, "Statute and Common Law," Political Science Quarterly, vols. ii. and iii. (New York, 1888-89) ; llbert. Legislative Metliods and Forms (London, 1901). CODE NAPOLEON. Properly, the entire body of French law as contained in the so-called Five Codes promulgated between 1804 and 1810. In general usage, however, the term is restricted to the first of these, the code of civil or private law enacted in 1804 and still in force. The re- lation of this code to the general development of European law is indicaled in Civil Law^ His- tory, VIII. At the outbreak of the Revolution (1789) there was great diversity in the laws by which different ))arts of France were governed, and the establishment of a general or national code was one of the reforms urgently demanded. Such a code was promised in the Constitution of 1791, and the Conveiition caused a code to be draughted in 1793: but this draught was rejected because it contained "no new and grand ideas, suitable to the regenerated France." It was not until the revolutionary storm had spent its force and Napoleon, as First Consul, had established a strong goverinnent that the work could be pushed tlirough. In .July, 1800, the task was intrusted to a commission consisting of the most eminent jurists in France, chief among them being Bigot-Preameneu, JIalleville. Portalis, and Tronchet. These men completed their worii in four months. After the proposed code had been approved by the principal courts of justice, it was discussed in the Council of State, where Na- poleon displayed great interest in the work and made many slirewd suggestions, and it was then submitted, title by title, to the legislative body. Here it encountered opposition, because it was considered too conservative: and it was not passed until the legislature had been reformed into docility. The entire code was promulgated March 21. 1804, as Code civil des Frajifais. In 1807 the title was changed to Code Napoleon. These two designations have since prevailed al- ternately, according to the form of government. After the completion of the civil code, other codes were adopted, dealing with civil procedure, penal law. criminal |iroccdure. and commerce. The Code Naiioleon introduced little new law. It was a compromise between the customary law of the northern provinces, which was suVxtan- tially German, and the law of eastern and south- ern France, which was mainly Koman. It con- sists of tliree "books.' The first deals with per- sons, including family relations. The second deals with rights in things, but does not include the law of pledge and mortgage. The third, en- titled "Various modes of acquiring ownership," includes succession, by testament and ab intes- tato; matrimonial property law; the law of liens and mortgages; and the rules regarding proscrip- tion. The great merits of the code are simplicity (sometimes secured by superficiality) and clear- ness of statement. In spite of these merits, the code has aroused the usual amount of contro- versies, some of which are still unsettled, and has required no little judicial interpretation. To contemporary jurists it seemed fairly complete; but experience has revealed many "open places' which have been filled, in part by judicial deci- sions and in jiart by supplementary legislation. There has been also considerable legislative amendment. The Code Napoleon, as a result of French con- (luests, was introduced before 1814 into many parts of central and southern Europe. In most instances independent national codes have since been substituted : but the Code Napoleon is still in force in Belgium, in Holland, in several Swiss cantons, and in Italy the newer codes are largely based upon the French. The same is true of the code of Louisiana, of most of the Central American and South American codes, and of the Spanisli Code of 1889. The Code Napo- leon is contained in Roger and Sorel, Codes et lois nsuellcs (15th ed. Paris, 1883). There are commentaries by Marcade and Pont, Explication thforique et pratique du code civil (Paris, 1874- 94) ; Mourlon, Rep<^titions fcrites sur le Code Napoleon (12th ed. Paris, 1885). CODE'INE ( from Gk. KiiSeia, kOdeia, a poppy- head). C,,,H.,NO,-. One of the alkaloids found in opium, in which it exists in relatively small quantities. In chemical constitution it is close- ly allied to morphine, from which it is now usu-
- illy pre]iared. Its ])hysiological action is simi-
lar to that of morphine, and it is used in medi- cine to diminish sensibility to pain : it is also sometimes prescribed in diabetes. Codeine is a, white crystalline substance sparingly soluble in water, freely soluble in alcohol, ether, chloro- form, and other organic liquids. It may be readily identified by dissolving a small quantity in strong sulphuric acid and adding a trace of ferric chloride solntion, which produces a blue coloration. The medicinal dose of codeine is from one-quarter to two grains. CO'DEX (Lat., trunk of a tree, tablet). The name 'codex' seems to have been applied first to books that were made by laying sheets one on an- other, like tablets, in sets of three, four, or more. Each one of such sets, when folded and stitched together, constituted a book (liber) in the more technical sense. Any number of these 'books' might be bound together in a large book or code.x. In distinction from the codex, the volume or roll was made by pasting or stitching the separate sheets together edgewise, thus form- ing a long ribbon Avliich had to be rolled in order to be easily liandled. The word is at present used almost exclusively for manuscript cojiies of the whole or parts of the Bible or of the Greek and Roman classics.
