Et Forma

Formal words introduced at the conclusion of a traverse. Their object is to put the party whose pleading is traversed not only to the proof that the matter of fact denied is, in its general effect, true as alleged, but also that the manner and form in which the fact or facts are set forth are also capable of proof. Thus, in an action of assumpsit, conducted according to the former common-law system of pleading, where the plaintiff sets out an agreement in his declaration as the foundation of the defendant's promise, and the defendant pleads generally that he did not promise in manner and form as alleged, he may, under the issue so raised, take advantage of any material variance between the contract so set out and that which, upon the trial, is proved to have been the actual contract between the parties. When, however, the traverse is addressed to one only of several independent allegations, it simply puts in issue the substance of that allegation, notwithstanding the words modo et forma are employed. Thus, in the common action of debt for goods sold and delivered, when the defendant pleads that he never was indebted in manner and form as alleged, this traverse does' not put in issue the formal accuracy of the plaintiff's statement, but the very substance of the plaintiff's declaration; viz., whether or not the defendant was ever indebted to the plaintiff in respect of the cause of action alleged. It is said that in England this mode of pleading is abrogated by the orders made under the judicature acts.