Lunacy

Lunacy is that condition or habit in which the mind is directed by the wlll, but is wholly or partially misguided or erroneously governed by it; or it is the Impairment of any one or more of the faculties of the mind, accompanied with or inducing a defect in the comparing faculty. Owings' Case, 1 Bland (Md.) 386, 17 Am. Dec. 311. See Insanity.

— Inquisition (or inquest) of lnnacy. A quasi-judicial examination into the sanity or insanity of a given person, ordered by a court having jurisdiction, on a proper application and sufficient preliminary showing of facts, held by the sheriff (or marshal, or a magistrate, or the court itself, according to the local practice) with the assistance of a special jury, usually of six men, who are to hear evidence and render a verdict in accordance with the facts. This is the usual foundation for an order appointing a guardian or conservator for a person adjudged to be insane, or for committing him to an insane asylum See Hughes v. Jones, 116 N. Y. 67, 22 N. E. 446, 5 In R. A. 637, 15 Am. St. Rep. 386; Hadaway v. Smith, 71 Md. 319, 18 Atl. 589; Mills' Ann. St. Colo. § 2935.

— Lunacy, commission of. A commission issuing from a court of competent jurisdiction, authorizing an inquiry to be made into the mental condition of a person who is alleged to be a lunatic.