CONSIDERATION, in the law of contract, an act or for bearance, or the promise thereof, offered by one party to an agreement, and accepted by the other as an inducement to that other's act or promise (Pollock on Contract). Consideration in the legal sense is essential to the validity of every contract unless it is made in writing under seal. The meaning of the word is quite accurately expressed by a phrase used in one of the earliest cases on the subject—it is strictly a quid pro quo. Something, whether it be in the nature of an act or a forbearance, must move from one of the parties in order to support a promise made by the other. A mere promise by A to give something to B cannot be enforced unless there is some consideration "moving from B." While every contract requires a consideration, it is held that the court will not inquire into the adequacy thereof, but it must be of some value in the eye of the law. It must also be legal, and it must be either present or future, not past. "Valuable consideration" dif fers from causa, which was required in the Roman law of con tracts, since this, i.e., the reason, such as affection or moral duty, was sufficient to make a contract sustainable. In Scots law a mere promise without consideration is enforceable. See CONTRACT. CONSIDERATION MONEY. In the transfer of stocks and shares, this is the amount of money stated on the deed of transfer as being paid by the buyer to the seller. If shares are sold on the Stock Exchange, however, it by no means follows that the seller will find named on the transfer the sum for which his stockbroker sold the shares, and which was stated on the stock broker's contract note. That is because shares may change hands several times during a stock exchange settlement period, and, under the Stamp act, it is the amount paid by the sub-purchaser which has to be stated on the transfer for the purpose of assess ment of the transaction to ad valorem stamp duty.