Age. The legal divisions of human life, being sometimes arbitrary, and sometimes founded on nature, differ considerably in different countries. In England, the whole period previous to twenty-one years of age is usually spoken of as infancy, a term which has a totally different signification in those countries that have followed the civil law. But notwithstanding this general division, which is common to both sexes, the ages of male and female are different for different purposes. Thus, a boy of fourteen, a girl of twelve, may validly consent to marry. Infancy, generally, is for the protection of civil rights; and by a statute of 1874 it is declared that all contracts made by an infant, except those for necessaries, are absolutely void. In the Probate Court, an infant above the age of seven is called a minor, and is allowed to choose a guardian for himself, but no infant can make a valid will. In criminal law, a child under seven years is incapable of felony, and up to the age of fourteen there is a presumption against the existence of a criminal mind and intention; but infants between fourteen and twenty-one are fully responsible for criminal acts.
By the law of Scotland, again, life is divided into three periods—pupilarity, minority, and majority. The first extends from birth to the age of legal puberty, which is fourteen in males and twelve in females, at which ages they may respectively marry; the second embraces the period from the termination of pupilarity till the attainment of majority, which takes place at the age of twenty-one in both sexes; and the third includes the whole of after-life. The term Minority, however, is often applied to the whole period anterior to majority, and is thus equivalent to infancy or nonage in England. Infancy in Scotland can scarcely be said to possess a technical meaning; but when used at all, it is always in the sense of the Roman infantia, to indicate the period from birth till seven years of age, during which a child, unless in very unusual circumstances, is intrusted to the care of the mother. The office of tutory corresponds in duration to pupilarity, that of curatory to minority (see TUTOR, GUARDIAN). The civil capacity and responsibility of minors in Scotland are more extensive than, and totally different in principle from those of infants in England. As regards children under seven, the same doctrine of criminal responsibility prevails as in England; but in the case of pupils between seven and fourteen, the Scottish law, although ill defined, inclines to greater severity in principle. The British laws on the subject are obviously unreasonable, and are not founded on any physiological basis. As regards capacity for giving evidence in court, the judges have been left to proceed on grounds of common sense, and no serious injustice is done. In France, the marriageable age is eighteen in males, and fifteen in females, an arrangement more reasonable than that which we have borrowed from the Romans, and which, however suitable it may have been to the climate of Italy, could never have been free from inconveniences in this country. Twenty-one is generally the age at which men are eligible for public offices; and at this age they may elect, and be elected members of parliament. But a man must be twenty-four before he can be admitted to priests' orders in the English Church, and thirty before he can be a bishop.
In the United States, full age is the day preceding the twenty-first anniversary of a person's birth. All persons under seven years of age are incapable of crime; and between the ages of seven and fourteen the legal presumption is they are not capable of crime, but this assumption may be rebutted by strong and clear proof of a mischievous discretion or knowledge of the wrong. The presumptions of innocence cease at the age of fourteen, at which time males may choose their own guardian, and at eighteen may enlist in the army. Females are supposed to arrive at discretion at twelve years of age, and may consent to marriage, and at fourteen choose their own guardian. In some of the states they become of full age at eighteen. A male may vote at twenty-one, be elected a representative to congress at twenty-five, and a senator of the United States at thirty.
The legal disabilities attaching to the different stages of minority, or, to speak more correctly, the privileges which the law confers on minors for their protection, will be treated of under the different subjects to which they relate (see CONSENT, CONTRACT, CRIME, GUARDIAN, INFANT, MARRIAGE). The problem of age is one of the most interesting in medical jurisprudence. The most reliable evidence afforded by the skeleton is that connected with the teeth, the skull, and the general character of the bony attachments.