she had henceforth no life in law apart from his.

[Sidenote: Unity of person.]

The legal fiction of the unity of the persons of husband and wife dates
back to feudal times, and may, perhaps, have been a necessity of the age
and of the peculiar social and political systems of that period. Like
many another law having its inception in a sincere desire to secure the
greatest good to the greatest number, and apparently necessary for that
purpose at the period of social development which gave it birth, it
existed for centuries after it had ceased to result in any benefit or
afford any protection, and after the reason for its being had passed
away and been forgotten.

[Sidenote: Power of husband.]

We are told that at marriage the husband "adopted his wife and her
circumstances together." He might exercise his power over her person by
restraining her of her liberty in case of gross misbehavior, or by
giving her moderate chastisement in the same degree that he might
administer correction to his children. An early decision of one of our
state courts interpreted this to mean that a man might whip his wife
with a switch as large as his finger, but not larger than his thumb,
without being guilty of an assault.

[Sidenote: Disabilities.]

Husband and wife being one person could not contract nor enter into a
business partnership with each other; neither could one convey property
to the other without the intervention of a third party. The wife was