118 Mass. 441 | Mass. | 1875
The complaint in this case is founded upon the St. of 1869, c. 152, § 4, which imposes a penalty upon “ an)
The defendant contends that the instruction to the jury, that they were “ to decide whether the article alleged and admitted to be kept and offered for sale was substantially naphtha or not,” was erroneous. In the sense in which, as is clear, the presiding judge used the expression “ substantially naphtha,” it is not open tc objection. The defendant admitted that he kept for sale an article which was once naphtha, but contended that it had been combined with chemical agents, so as to counteract its explosive qualities as naphtha. In this connection, the instruction excepted to was correct; the word “ substantially ” being clearly used as meaning 66 really or essentially.” The jury could not have understood the court to imply that they were to convict the defendant because naphtha was the principal constituent of the article kept for sale, if by chemical combination its nature and character had been changed. The fair meaning of the instruction was that they were to inquire whether, by chemical combinations, a different article had been produced, or whether the article offered for sale remained and was essentially naphtha. Exceptions overruled.