Inspection, trial by
Black's Law Dictionary · Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Black's Law Dictionary
A mode of trial formerly in use in England, by which the judges of a court decided a point in dispute, upon the testimony of their own senses, without the intervention of a jury. This took place in cases where the fact upon which issue was taken must, from its nature, be evident to the court from ocular demonstration, or other irrefragable proof; and was adopted for the greater expedition of a cause.
3 Bl. Comm. 331.