The following are the names for con sanguinity in the Roman law. In line (a) ascending from A : 1, pater, mater ; 2, avus, avia ; 3, proavus, proavia ; 4, aba vus, abavia ; 5, atavus, atavia ; 6, tritavus, tritavia : all above 6 are included in the general name " majores." In line ca) descending from A: —1, filius, filia ; 2, nepos, neptis ; 3, pronepos, proneptis; 4, abnepos, abneptis ; 5, atnepos, atneptis ; 6, trinepos, trineptis : all below 6 are in cluded in the general name of " posteri " or " posteriores." In line (b), beginning with 2 and ascending :— 2, frater, soror ; 3, patruus, amita (uncle and aunt on the father's side) ; avunculus, matertera (do. on the mother's ) ; 4, patruus magnus, amita magna, avunculus magnus, matertera magna ; 5, propatruus, proamita, pros vunculus, promatertera ; 6, abpatruus, abamita, abavunculus, abmatertera.
In line (b), beginning with 3 and do scending, the names are, 3, fratris, sororis, filius et filia, and so on.
In (c), beginning with 4 and ascending : consobrinus, consobrina, which are the general terms, but properly signify those born of two sisters (quasi consoro rini) ; sons born of two brothers are pro perly called fratres patrueles; daughters, sorores patrueles. 5, proprior, or prior sobrino, proprior sobrina, the sons and daughters of the patruns magnus, amita magna, &c. (Tacit., Annal. xii. 64.) Some of the Latin writers used" nepos" to express a brother's or sister's son.
The term consanguinity is derived from the Romans ; but among the Romans, Consanguinei were properly only those who had a common father. Cognatio was a larger term, and it was divided into naturalis and civilis. Naturalis cognatio was that which existed without civilis cognatio, that is, without reference to marriage. Accordingly naturalis cog natio existed among all persons who were merely of kin through the mother, whether they were the offspring of a marriage or not. Naturalis cognatio, or the natural propagation of the species, was the element upon which the civilis or legal cognatio was formed. But civilis cognatio might exist without the natural is, as in the case of adoption. When cog natio resulted from a legal marriage, there was both the naturalis and civilis cognatio combined. The naturalis cog
natio was simply called cognatio ; the civilis cognatio might be called civilis cognatio, but its proper name was ag natio. All those between whom cognatio existed were Cognati : all those between whom agnatio existed were Agnati. Cog nati then were all those who were con nected either by father or mother, or both, whether they were agnati also, or were merely connected by the naturalis cognatio. Those only were agnati who were in the power of a father of a family ; and among them was the wife, who was in the hand (manus) of her husband; and they were still agnati after his death. They ceased to be agnati if they were adopted into another family. Also those who were adopted into a family became agnati to all who belonged to such families. Accordingly the definition of agnati, which defines it to be those cognati who are related through males, that is, by being begotten by a man in lawful mar riage, is not quite exact ; for the defini tion does not comprise those who are adopted into a familia, though by such adoption they became agnati ; and it does comprise those who are adopted out of the family, and who thereby cease to be agnati to the members of the family which they have left. In the old Roman law it was only agnatio, that is, civilis cognatio, which was a matter of legal consideration ; but under the empire the strict nature of agnatio lost its meaning, and cognatio also was regarded, as we see in the case of succession to intestates. Thus those agnati who had lost their rights to the succession under the old law in consequence of a capitis diminutio were admitted by the prEetorium jus to the succession of intestates, for they were cognati, though they had ceased to be ag nati. The same equity of mutual suc cession was extended to a mother and her children when the mother had not been in the hand of her husband, and consequently the legal consanguinity between her and her children was wanting. (Gains, 24, &c.) (Institut., iii. tit. 6, De Grad. Cogna tionum ; Dig., 38, tit. 10: Ulpian, Frag., fit. 26 ; Rocking, Institutionen, i. 253.)