CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES. SECTION 1. DEFINITION. Damages are the pecuniary reparation which the law compels a wrongdoer to make to the person injured by his wrong.1 SECTION 2. THEORY OF DAMAGES. The general theory upon which the law allows damages for the violation of a civil right is based upon the doctrine that where a civil injury has been sustained the law provides a remedy that should be commensurate to the injury sustained." Compensation is the fundamental principle governing the award of damages. Damages are given as an indemnity to the person injured, not as a punishment to the wrongdoer. An exception to this rule, however, is found in the case of torts accompanied by fraud, gross negligence, malice or oppression; in such cases exemplary damages are sometimes awarded as a punishment to the offender.* SECTION 3. PRINCIPAL RULES GOVERNING DAMAGES. The most fundamental general rule with regard to damages is that requiring certainty. The rule on this point has been well stated as follows: "Damages must be certain; both in their nature and in respect to the cause from which they proceed. Hypothetical or speculative damages are not recoverable." The cardinal principle in relation to the damages to be compensated for on the breach of a contract is that the plaintiff must establish the quantum of his loss, by evidence from which the jury will be able to estimate the extent of his injury, and will exclude all such elements of injury as are incapable of being ascertained by the usual rules of evidence to a reasonable degree of certainty. It is not, however, a sufficient reason for disallowing damages claimed that a party can state their amount only proximately, it is enough if from proximate estimates of witnesses a satisfactory conclusion can be reached." Sedgwick on Damages, p. 26. • Wolcott vs. Mount, 36 N. J. L., 262, 13 Am. St. Rep., 438. 13 Cyc., 37. Satchwell vs. Williams, 40 Conn., 371. In Duke vs. Missouri Pac. R. Co., 99 Mo., 347, 351, 12 S. W., 636, the Court said: "Where there is no evidence showing the amount, or the proximate amount of expenses incurred for medicines, medical attention or like services, the jury have no basis upon which to form an estimate of the damages that ought to be assessed on account thereof, and damages of this kind cannot be found except upon such proof." Eckerd vs. Chicago, etc., R. Co., 70 Iowa, 353, 30 N. W., 615; Reed vs. Chicago, etc., R. Co., 57 Iowa, 23, 10 N. W., 285; Crowley vs. St. Louis, etc., R. Co., 24 Mo. App., 119; vs. Redf. on Neg. (4th Ed.), Sec. 759. "Where compensatory damages only are given, the recovery must be confined to the actual damages sustained." Hannibal Bridge Co. vs. Schanbacker, 57 Mo., 582. "And when such damages are susceptible of proof with approximate accuracy, and may be measured with some degree of certainty, they should not be left to the guess of the jury, even in actions ex delicto. Parsons vs. Missouri Pac. R. Co., 94 Mo., 286, 6 S. W., 464; Pritchard vs. Hewitt, 91 Mo., 547, 4 S. W., 437, 60 Am. Rep., 265. The question of certainty of damages will be touched upon to a very considerable extent in each of the remaining chapters on the subject of Damages. Next in importance to the rule as to certainty of damages comes the rule as to proximate cause. Damages can be recovered only from those injuries which are the proximate result of the act which is the basis of the action. Damages which are the remote result of such act cannot be recovered for. SECTION 4. CLASSIFICATION. Before going further into the classification of consequences and losses, it is necessary to denote a brief chapter to the classification of damages. The next chapter will, therefore, explain the important classes of damages as follows: Compensatory damages, exemplary damages, nominal damages, and substantial damages. See Chapter III on Classification of Consequences of Losses. Sedgwick in his work on Damages (p. 39), gives the following so-called rules of exclusion, enumerating the classes of cases in which no damages can be recovered. (1) No recovery can be had for damages attributable to any cause other than the cause of action. (2) No recovery can be had for remote damages. (3) In actions for breach of a contract, the advantage to be |