Obviously, the sound principle for the award of damages is that of restitution, rather than of satisfaction—the restoring to the injured party of the property of which he has been deprived, or making to him due compensation for the injury sustained by him—and this principle is generally followed by our law in most actions other than those above referred to. it is expressed in the phrase that damages are limited to the loss which the plaintiff has actually sustained. In practice. however, a more restricted rude is fol lowed, the defendant being liable only for such damages as he did in fact cmitemplate or which are the natural and probable consequences of his acts, whether contemplated by him or not. This rule is equally applicable in cases of contract and of tort, and operates to exclude what are called 'remote' or merely 'consequential' damages. That, under a perfect system, the latter would also be included in an award of damages can hardly be doubted, but the judicial distrust of the jury, by whom, both in England and America, the award is usually made, ,has induced the courts to adopt the narrower rule.
Damages are also an available remedy in some cases of injury, even where no actual loss has been sustained. It is the violation of a legal right, and not the detriment or loss resulting therefrom, which furnishes the ground for an action for damages. Such an action, accordingly,
is the appropriate remedy in the case of a tres pass upon land. an unauthorized interference with a watercourse, and the like, although no injury or serious inconvenience to the tenant or riparian proprietor results. The damages to which the plaintiff is entitled in such a ease are not 'substantial,' lint 'nominal.' And, on the other hand, where loss or harm is sustained, but without the violation of a legal right, the dam age is irremediable by any legal process. It is dainnum absque injuria.
For the measure of damages appropriate to the various classes of rights, see the articles in which those rights and the remedies for their infringement are considered. Sec especially CONTRACT: TORT; INJURY. Consult: Holmes, The Common Lair (Boston, 1881) : Essays on Anglo-Saxon Lair (Boston, 1876) ; Lee, Histori cal Jurisprudence (New York, 1900) : Arthur G. Sedgwiek, Elements of Damages (Boston. 1896) ; Sedgwiek, Treatise on the Measure of Damages (8th ed., New York, 1891) ; Sutherland, Treatise on the Laic of Damages (Chicago, 1893) ; Mayne, Treatise on the Lair of Damages (5th ed., Lon don, 1894) Watson, Treatise on the Lau- of Damages for Personal Injuries (Charlottesville, 1901) ; Harris. Treatise on Damages by Corpo rations (Rochester. 1894).