which afterwards
dies,
he owes a
complete fine.
I f the woman
fo ftruck mifcarry
o f a
dead fcetus,
and alfo die
herfelf, the
ftriker is accountable
both for a
complete
fine, and a
Gharra.
The ftriker
cannot inherit
any part o f
the Ghorrâ,
line is due from the ftriker, as he, by flunking the mother, has produced
the deftrudrion of a living perfon.
If a. perfon ftrike a woman on the belly, and fhe in confequence
mifcarry of a dead foetus, and afterwards die, the ftriker owes a fine
for the murder of the mother, and a Ghorrd on account of-the mif-
carriage,— the prophet having fo decreed in fuch an inftance.— If, on
the contrary, they mother firft die o f the blow, producing a living
child which afterwards dies likevvife, the ftriker owes one fine on account
of the mother, and another on account of the child, as havino-
here murdered two people. If, on the other hand, the mother die
of the blow, producing a dead child, a fine is due for the mother,
but nothing whatever for the child. Sbafe'i maintains that in this
cafe,a Ghorrd is due on account of the dead child; for as the death or
the child has been, to all appearance, occafioned by the blow, the cafe
is therefore the fame as i f the mother had produced a,dead child whilft
fhe was yet alive. T h e argument of our doctors is, that it may have
been the death of the mother which produced that o f the1 child, as
an embryo muft neceffarily perifh where the mother dies, finpe the
life of the one is derived from that of the other:— hence it is doubtful
whether the death of the child was occafioned by that of the mother,
or by the blow; and there is no refponfibility in any cafe of
doubt.
T he fine or penalty incurred on account of an embryo goes as. an
inheritance to the embryo’s heirs, as being a compenfation. for; his
perfon. T h e ftriker * , however, cannot have any fhare in fuch inheritance.
If, therefore, a man ftrike his wife on the belly, fo-,as to
caufe her to mifcarry of a dead child, of his begetting, his. [the fa*,
ther’s] Akilfls are refponfible for a Ghorrd, of which he cannot inherit
* Meaning, the perfon who ftruck the mother, and thereby occafioned the mif-
carriage.
• any
any part ; becaufe he has flain the child unrightfully, and is therefore
guilty of murder; and there rs no.inheritance for a murderer.
If. a perfon ftrike upon the belly a pregnant female Have, whofe
pregnancy has proceeded from feme other than her 'maffer, and fhe,
in Confequence, mifcarry o f a dead foetus, but herfelf remain alive,
the value of the foetus muft in this cafe be eftimated at the fame rate
as if it were alive. If, therefore, it be a male foetus, a twentieth of
the value is due; or, i f a female,' a tenth. Shafei maintains that the
ftriker is liable for a tenth of the value of _the mother; becaufe, as thé
embryo is, in one view, a part of the mother, the rate of compenfa-
tion is ‘therefore determined by the value of the mother, who' is thé
original,— the rate of refponfibility for a part being always determined
by the rate of the original. The argument of our doflors is that a
Ghorrà is a compèiifation for the perfon, not for a part or member
of the body;— for a compenfation for a part or member is not
due unlefe feme noticeable defedt be occafioned in the original ; (in-
fomtich that i f there be no defied: occafioned in the original, notin
g whatever is due;— as where; for inftance, a perfon ftrikes out
the tooth of another, and a fécond tooth grows in its place,— in
which cafe the ftriker is not liable for any th ing;)— and in the cafe
in queftion the defied: occafioned in the original (namely, the moi
ther) is of no account, fince a refponfibility attaches for the embryo
whether a defed have been occafioned in the mother or not. As
therefore, the Ghorrd is evidently a confederation for the perfon, and
not for any part or member, the rate of it is to be determined by the
confideration for the perfon. Now, in eftimating the confideration
for the perfon, the original thing is the perfon o f a freeman ; and the
rate for the perfon of a free-begotten embryo, if it be a male, is a
twentieth of the fine for a man, or, i f a fetnale, the tenth o f the fine
for a woman ;— whence the fame rule holds with refped: to the embryo
produced from a female flave. As, however, the value, in the
fafeof a flave, is a fubftituté for the fine, in the cafe o f a freeman, the
nnker therefore owes a twentieth of the value of the embryo, i f it
Z z 2 be
Cafes o f mif-
carriage occafioned
with
refpefl to f e male
fla kes.