Curtis v. . Gano

The defendants constructed three threshing machines, under the contract between them and the plaintiff; and one of the issues litigated at the trial was, whether these machines were built according to the contract, that is, in a good and workmanlike manner. A witness was asked the following question: "Were the three machines built in a good and workmanlike manner?" The question was one which came within one of the ordinary and well-recognized exceptions to the general rule forbidding the reception in evidence of a witness's opinion. It was a matter of skill, requiring peculiar knowledge of…